Cybernetic Cabaret
by Lycoson
Summary: Three years have passed since Hideki admitted his feelings for Chi, and he has finally made it into Tokyo U. When he and Minoru are mysteriously called in to investigate a data theft, he comes in contact with the Vocaloids: a group of persocom idol singers. He must use all he has learned to find one of their number—but does she want to be found?
1. Track 1: Electric Angel

Hello everyone,

I do not know how many of you are still following me. It has been a long time since I've posted anything here. A lot has happened in that time, some wonderful, some horrible, but most crushingly dull. Needless to say, I am back at least for a little while.

The basis for this story began while I was listening to Reol's _LUVORATORRRRRY!,_ and especially the Gumi/Rin version of it. To me, Vocaloids and Utauloids have always been a very sublime commentary on the nature of popstars; they are a logical conclusion of an industry that manufactures artists' images as much as their music.

With the Character Vocal Vocalods' backstory as singing androids, I started thinking about them as pop idols in the Chobits universe. Somewhere along the line I got a massive dose of _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ Mixed in, along with a sprinkling of _Max Headroom_. Things just kept spiraling to become more and more cyberpunk after that, something which becomes more apparent in later chapters. It reached the point where I realized that I had made Miku a Rachel Rosen type character, and had to reign things back in.

Fnal notes before I begin: this story works off of manga-continuity Chobits, not anime-continuity. As good as the anime arguably is, it is the manga which is still near and dear to me. I also decided to have all the Vocaloids as being from a single company for sake of story. Story rating may change from T to M as chapters are added; I have not yet decided.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Track 1: Electric Angel

Motosuwa Hideki opened his eyes and groaned, once again cursing that the morning sun shone directly through his windows. In all of the years he had lived in the small Tokyo apartment, he had never managed to purchase a simple set of blinds. Instead, he was rudely awakened each and every morning by the glaring rays of the dawn.

His eyes focused on the sleeping girl who lay next to him, the sheets and long blonde hair covering her naked form. The girl looked almost human, except for her ears. Large triangular hatches stuck out from either side of her head, revealing her for what she was. She was a Persocom; a personal computer given human shape. To Hideki, however, she was more than that. The two of them had formed a special bond, one that had only strengthened in the three years since Hideki found her in the trash.

Hideki pulled her against his body. "Good morning Chi."

Chi opened her eyes and placed a hand lightly on his cheek. "Hideki."

They stayed that way, happily lost in one another's eyes. Neither said anything; neither of them needed to. Hideki wished he did not have to get up; he just wanted to spend the entire day embracing his robotic companion and gazing into her eyes.

Their cuddling was interrupted when an extremely loud and cheerful voice shouted from somewhere by their feet. "Good morning!" Its source, a plum-haired figure no larger than a doll, hopped up and down, a whistle in one hand and a pair of flags in her other. "Rise and shine master! It's time for your morning exercises!"

Hideki unwillingly jumped to his feet, following the routines shouted by the tiny figure. He did not particularly feel like exercising, but he knew that she would badger him until he did. The laptop persocom, Sumomo, had originally belonged to one of Hideki's cram school friends, and had programmed her to do it. Three years, numerous upgrades, and at least one rebuild later, and still Hideki could not figure out how to turn the program off.

Chi, for her part, had rushed to what passed for a kitchenette in the apartment. With only one organic mouth to feed among them, paying the apartment's electrical bill was more important than the weekly grocery runs. Frugality and the natural lifestyle of a bachelor meant that Hideki's diet was fairly simple. Instant rice, instant ramen, instant everything when he could not afford to order out. Still, Chi had taken it upon herself to learn how to prepare his breakfasts. It was a small gesture which nonetheless saved him a small amount of time in the mornings. Time he could spend with Chi before he had to head out.

A figure similar in size to Sumomo sat on the edge of the nearby TV, attempting to remain calm despite visible irritation. Kotoko was the last member of Hideki's household, although technically was not his. He had asked her owner let him borrow her on a semi-permanent basis. Blackmailed him into it was more like it: her former master had kidnapped Chi, and Kotoko had recorded his confession.

His miniature aerobics instructor finally allowed Hideki the chance to breathe. In the time it had taken to finish the regimen, Chi had already finished his breakfast: Instant rice, natto, and microwave miso soup. As little as it was, it was all Hideki could afford, and he was grateful to Chi for her help.

Hideki knocked over the previous day's mail as he sat down by the TV, scattering various letters and junk mail across the floor. He had spent so much time studying the previous night he had not had any time to go through it. There would be plenty of time that evening, and it was not as if anything there was particularly urgent.

Sumomo leapt up next to Kotoko and began reciting from her daily planner program. "Today master has classes at nine, eleven thirty, two and four. The earliest train after the end of your last class is five fourty-five."

"I'd have to run all the way there. What's the next train after that?"

Before Sumomo had a chance to reply, Kotoko interrupted. "Six fifteen."

"That's good enough."

Sumomo switched to her email program. "You have twelve messages!"

"Save them, I'll check them when I get back." He quickly devoured his breakfast, washing down the rice with the soup.

"You should bring a coat with you," Chi suggested, "Chi doesn't want you to get cold." Chi's language skills had improved to no end, but she still referred to herself in the third person occasionally. Hideki was not sure if it was a glitch or if she did it to sound cute.

"How about you, Chi? Any plans for today?"

The blonde persocom nodded. "Chi is going to spend today with Ms. Hibiya. She said we were going to paint together! Work isn't until three."

Hideki felt a twinge of guilt as he began to dress. Ms. Hibiya was their landlady, and Chi often spent time with her while Hideki was away. She had her own reasons for wanting to be close to Chi, reasons Hideki was not ready to tell Chi. "Sorry I've been so busy lately. I know it must be hard for you here all alone, then having me studying until all hours of the night."

"It's fine. You have to keep your grades up!"

"I don't have any classes tomorrow, so I could take a break from studying tonight."

Chi's eyes seemed to sparkle. "Really?"

Hideki nodded. The two shared another smile. The ring on Chi's left ring finger caught the rays of the morning sun and sparkled.

Sumomo's cheerful voice called out "fifteen minutes for the train!"

"Gaah! I'm going to be late!" Hideki threw his bag over his shoulder and rushed to the door.

"Hideki?" He stopped and turned around. Chi smiled at him. "Have a good day!"

Hideki smiled. "Thanks Chi! You too!"

As the sound of Hideki's footsteps faded away, Chi picked up the envelope which had fallen from the top of the pile. the material was a thick ivory parchment, obviously expensive. It bore a corporate logo above its return address. In stylized letters, it read _Yanaha Cybernetics_.

Hideki just barely made it to his first class, settling into his seat mere seconds before the professor stepped into the room. The lecture flew by, over before he had even managed to take a page's worth of notes. He fared little better in his next class, and the next after that. Several hours later, Hideki sighed as he trudged defeatedly out of the gates of Tokyo U. It had been a long day, and he did not feel as if he had learned anything. He was looking forward to the evening relaxing with Chi, then perhaps a quick page through one of his porn magazines before bed.

Hideki sighed. Even after making it into Tokyo U, he still had no idea what he wanted to major in. Agriculture would make sense given his background, but business and civic engineering held promise for high-paying jobs. Given his grades it was not likely to matter; he was just barely scraping by. Still, he could not help but feel a certain directionlessness; he had spent years of his life working toward the singular goal of making it into Tokyo University, but now that he was there he had no idea what to do.

He heard the honk of a horn behind him and turned to see a Limousine slowing down. Wondering who it could be for, he continued walking. He had only gone a few steps when It honked again. This time he stopped. As the limo pulled up next to him, one of its windows rolled down. Hideki recognized the boy that looked out at him.

"Minoru?"

Kokubunji Minoru simply stared back at him. "Get in."

His curiosity piqued, Hideki climbed into the limousine without protest. Minoru motioned to the driver, and Hideki was pulled back into his seat as they shot off at alarming speed. As he righted himself, he examined his companion.

It had been three years since he met the wealthy boy genius, and a great deal had changed since then. Chi had become a permanent part of his life, Hideki had made it into Tokyo University, he had even managed to learn something about maintaining the persocoms now in his life. And in all that time, Minoru had grown from a twelve-year-old mensa candidate into an even brighter teenager.

Minoru's primary persocom, Yuzuki, sat next to him, hands folded in her lap. Designed to look like his now-deceased older sister, Yuzuki had appeared several years older than her master when Hideki had first met them. Now the two looked the same age, close enough that they might be twins. It would not be long before Minoru looked like the older of the two, while Yuzuki would stay eternally 15.

"Good to see you, Yuzuki. How are you doing?"

The persocom gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Very well, sir, thank you."

"Still the nice guy as ever, even polite to persocoms," someone to his right said.

Hideki jumped at the unexpected voice. He glanced across to the seat next to him and saw another familiar face. "Shinbo? What are you doing here?"

"Moral support." He laughed, shaking his head. "Hideki, dude, what the hell have you got yourself into now?"

Hiromu Shinbo was another long-standing friend of his, and the original owner of Sumomo. He had built the laptop persocom from scratch, a fact made ironic by his present lifestyle. After eloping with and marrying their cram school teacher, he had become a virtual luddite.

"What are you talking about?" Hideki asked.

Minoru raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you get the letter as well?"

"I haven't had a chance to check my mail today," Hideki admitted. He had almost been late to class, and it had completely slipped his mind.

"That's alright," Minoru replied, "I can explain; they've asked for my help as well."

Hideki settled back into his seat. "What is this about?"

"Have you ever heard of Vocaloids?"

He shrugged. "You're the persocom expert, not me."

Minoru handed him a magazine. The front cover depicted a girl with pink hair dressed in a deep purple slip dress. She was on a stage, microphone in hand, smiling out across the crowd. He looked closer. No, he realized, not a girl, a persocom. She had humanlike ears, but was a persocom nonetheless.

"Artificial popstars," Minoru explained, "Purpose-built persocoms designed to sing."

"They're everything the record companies could want," Shinbo added, "Persocoms don't age, they don't crack under stress, they never do anything that's against their image. And the music companies can program them with any type of personality they want: upbeat, innocent, rebellious, whatever."

Hideki thumbed through the magazine. Images of beautiful girls with technicolor hair flashed by. They were all so attractive! And those outfits they wore…"So what makes them different from just normal persocoms?"

Shinbo smirked. "Ever see a persocom try to carry a tune?"

"Yeah, I've heard them play songs all the time."

Minoru shook his head. "You've heard them play music files; pre-sampled and pre-mixed. Real-time singing synthesis is quite different. The stock sound boards in most persocoms aren't good for much more than normal talking: beyond that their sound becomes distorted. Vocaloids are different. They have proprietary hardware and software that makes them far better at it."

Hideki closed the magazine and handed it back. "What does all this have to do with me?"

Minoru produced an envelope and showed it to him. The return address was stamped "Yanaha Cybernetics."

"The Vocaloid parent company has asked for our assistance in resolving some problem they have."

Hideki frowned. "Why me? You I get, but I'm just a normal college student."

Minoru nodded in agreement. "Yes, the request for your help was very interesting. Only a handful of people are fully aware of the incident three years ago, but the author mentions both you and Chi by name. Someone very high up clearly thinks that your experience qualifies you for this."

"Look, I'd like to help, but I have school and a job. I can't just up and leave them."

Minoru said nothing in reply, simply handing him a sheet from the envelope. Hideki took it curiously. A proposed payment was underlined midway down. His head spun when he saw the size of the offer; the amount would not only pay for his remaining years at Tokyo U, but also his rent for the next decade.

"We're on our way to their offices right now."

Hideki tried to pull himself back to his senses. "I'll need to let Chi, Sumomo and Kotoko know I won't be home for dinner."

Minoru gestured to the persocom seated beside him. "Yuzuki can place a call home for you."

Yuziki raised her head, her eyes unfocused. After a moment, the persocom began to speak in a different voice: a voice very familiar to all of them.

"Hello?"

"Chi, it's Hideki," He replied. "I'm going to be a little late getting home today."

There was silence for a moment. "How long will you be?" Only Hideki would have picked up on it, but she sounded disappointed.

"I'm not sure, probably another two hours or so. I'm sorry, we'll go to the park tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"I promise. No excuses, no delays."

"Ok!" Chi's voice was cheerful.

Yuzuki's eyes refocused as the call ended. "May I help you with anything else, Mr. Motosuwa?"

"Thanks, that will be everything," Hideki replied. "I hope Chi will be alright by herself."

Shinbo leaned across to him. "I see you still wear your ring on a keychain."

"I, er, don't want to lose it." Hideki fidgeted. He did not want to admit the truth. For all of his feelings, he was not yet ready to share them with the world at large. His close friends would understand, they had met Chi and had watched her as she learned. But what would his teachers and classmates think? His parents?

"Look," Shinbo replied, "we both know people who have been burned by them or others falling in love with their persocoms." He surreptitiously twisted his wedding ring. "But if you're really devoted to Chi, you need to own it. You taught Takako and I that we can't half-ass our feelings, don't half-ass your own."

Unable to come up with a suitable reply, Hideki leaned back in the limo seat and looked out the window. The streets of Tokyo passed by them one after another. Hideki knew something had started, but he was not yet sure what.


	2. Track 2: Not Found

Quick note here because it has been brought up: Yes, I am aware that the actual company is Yamaha, not Yanaha. There is a tendency in the Chobits manga to add an N to actual computer companies/products (PC = PCN, Mac = Nac). the name is meant to be an expansion off of that.

* * *

Track 2: Not Found

A tableau of four figures filled the center of the lobby, surrounded by a thick glass case. To one side was the pink-haired persocom Hideki had seen on the magazine cover, perched very ladylike on the edge of a large speaker, legs crossed. To the other side was a pair of blonde twins, a boy and a girl, their arms interlinked. They looked like junior high students, all the more so because of the sailor collars of their outfits.

It was the girl in the center, however, who attracted most of Hideki's attention. She stood with hand outstretched to a cheering crowd which was not there. Thick teal hair, tied into twintails, reached to her knees. A gray sleeveless blouse and a black miniskirt with teal hem adorned her youthful frame. A teal tie, black arm sleeves and thigh-high boots completed the outfit. She was the very image of a teen idol: sixteen and incredibly cute.

These were too lifelike to be statues or replicas. They had to be deactivated persocoms, he realized, their limbs locked into place and put on display.

A voice from just behind him spoke. "That's my original hardware."

Hideki spun to see the face of the same girl looking at him. Her clothing was slightly different, a white blouse instead of gray and more skin-tight arm sleeves, but she was undeniably the same persocom.

Yet somehow she seemed even more lifelike. Her skin, although more flawless than any human's could be, seemed more lustrous, her teal eyes too detailed to be artificial. Only the unusual colour, and the large "01" tattooed on her shoulder, marked her as non-human. This, then, had to be a vocaloid.

"Oh, um, hello. I'm Motosuwa Hideki."

The vocaloid beamed. "Miku. Hatsune Miku. Nice to meet you!"

The others stood by the front desk, Yuzuki and Shinbo waiting off to one side while Minoru chatted with the persocom seated there. Seeing Hideki and his companion, the boy genius approached and adjusted his glasses. "The receptionist tells me you're to direct us to our meeting, is that correct?"

Miku nodded. "As long as you're Mr. Kokubunji Monoru. Come on up, the president wants to see you two."

Shinbo called over to them. "We'll see you guys when you're done here. Maybe we can go out for a bite to eat."

"They should be broadcasting our newest concert in the café," Miku offered, "You can watch it, if you want."

"Sounds good," Shinbo replied, "we'll see you guys in a bit."

The teal-haired vocaloid turned, her long twintails swishing back and forth behind her. Hideki muttered to Minoru as they followed her. "So that's a vocaloid."

"Not just any vocaloid," Minoru replied, "hands down the single most recognizable and popular. I wonder what we've done to earn such a distinction."

The elevator ride up was long. Floor after floor of corporate offices, labs, server farms, and Hideki could not tell what else flashed past. At least they had a nice view; the singular round wall was glass, allowing them to see out across Tokyo. Minoru stared contemplatively off into the distance, his demeanor suggesting that he did not want to talk.

Miku leaned against the glass, tapping her foot. The movement fascinated Hideki. It made her look like an impatient teenager. But she was not a human, she was a persocom. That meant someone had to specifically program her to tap her foot when she was bored, right? Why? To make her seem more alive? Who would even notice something like that?

He knew she was only a persocom, but he felt like should be making some sort of conversation.

"So you said that was your original hardware down there?"

Miku nodded. "That's right. I was one of the first V2 models released. They upgraded me to better hardware a few years ago."

"That makes you, what, a V3 model?"

"I'm V4 right now, and better than ever!"

The elevator finally dinged as it reached the correct floor. Miku led them out into a long hallway. More Corridors split off to the left and right, but Miku led them straight ahead. When the hall finally ended, they were in front of a set of tall double doors. Miku knocked on the door with a theatrical flourish and received a loud "Enter!" in reply.

Yanaha Cybernetics's president sat behind a large mahogany desk, its surface almost bare save for a nameplate and a penholder. The office was spacious and comfortable, though windowless. An arc of cushioned chairs were arranged in front of the desk. The walls were plain, save for a large painting of the same four vocaloids he had seen in the lobby.

A very beige persocom rested on an ottoman to one side. Her suit was beige, her shoes were beige, even her hair and eyes had a distinctly beige hue. A thick cable ran from her beige ear port and plugged into the side of the desk. Hideki suddenly realized that the desk's top was a cleverly disguised monitor; the entire piece of furniture was in fact a high-tech workstation.

The president rose as they entered the room. Hideki and Minoru bowed respectfully. The president acknowledged them by following suit.

"Mr. Kokubunji and Mr. Motosuwa. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please, have a seat."

Hideki sank slowly into the memory foam of the nearest chair. It was comfortable, almost too much so. Miku perched herself on the very edge of a seat off to the side.

"How may we be of assistance?" Minoru asked, "Your message was vague."

"Straight to business." The president nodded his approval. "We have had an incident recently which might prove embarrassing should knowledge of it be made public. The two of you come highly recommended as having experience in this particular field."

Minoru raised an eyebrow. "If I may ask, sir, what sort of incident?"

"I would prefer to keep those details confidential until we have come to an agreement. I will say that you would be investigating this incident, trying to recover some property for us. Suffice it to say, I trust my source's judgment of your capabilities."

"I don't know if I would be able to give the time and effort something like this deserves," Hideki replied, "You see, sir, I am currently a student—"

"We're aware of your enrollment at Tokyo University," the president replied, waving dismissively. "We hold a certain amount of weight with their board of directors, and might be able to have them grant you a certain dispensation."

Hideki blinked. "A dispensation?"

"Officially, you would be here on a work study program, given partial leave from your classes. Unofficially, of course, your only assignment here would be to investigate our incident. If you are successful, you will not only be paid generously, but we will provide a letter of recommendation for you to any future job."

Hideki glanced over to Minoru. The boy genius seemed relaxed, and perhaps a little intrigued. To the president, he said, "In that case, sir, I will help you to the best of my ability."

"I as well," Minoru added.

"Excellent!" The president replied. He turned to the beige persocom. "Kanna, load up contracts for our two guests, and our standard non-disclosure agreement as well. Print copies at the end for their records."

The persocom nodded. the screen of the desk's top came to life and a pair of documents opening in front of them. The persocom handed both of them a stylus and directed them so sign on the desktop. Hideki tried his best to read through both documents, but was quickly lost in the legal jargon. Something about this did not seem right, signing a contract to not discuss something when he did not even know what it was, but as long as Minoru was in it with him he supposed it was alright. He signed where directed.

The president examined their paperwork and, apparently satisfied, nodded to the persocom. The files promptly vanished from the screen, and a printer in the corner of the room sputtered to life. Moments later the persocom handed them a stack of printed sheets.

The president finally began to speak once again. "At approximately 10 PM last Wednesday, someone illegally accessed our office's network. They downloaded proprietary data from one of our Vocaloids before wiping her hard drive clean. Whoever they were, they took everything: memories, speech synthesizer, personality data, even the operating system. Whoever it was now possesses the only complete copy of her programming."

Hideki mulled over the implications of what the president had said, trying to figure out if he understood what the man had said. Momentarily forgetting his manners, Hideki burst out, "Wait a minute, you're saying someone kidnapped one of your stars?"

"Not kidnapped, Mr. Hideki, stole. A computer hacker absconded with a large amount of proprietary data."

"Whoever did it was a real pro too," Miku added, "There's no record of their IP address, or even their entry point. They wiped out her backups too for some reason."

"What can you tell us about the Vocaloid in question?" Minoru asked. "Was there any particular reason someone would take her data in particular?"

"Lola was one of the first of us made," Miku explained. "As a matter of fact, she was about the only V1 still on her original hardware."

"So, she was your big sister then," Hideki commented.

Miku shook her head. "We never really performed together like that. She was one of the less well-known vocaloids, and was never scheduled with the rest of us."

"Not too likely to be a ransom then," Minoru muttered. "We'll need to examine the logs of the incident, and it might be useful to examine her hardware itself."

"We have it down in our construction and maintenance lab," the president replied.

There was something in the back of Hideki's mind that bothered him about this entire situation. The facts he had been presented were not adding up. He needed to find out more, and he was not going to get it from the president. "If it's alright, I'd like to speak with the other Vocaloids. Maybe one of them noticed something."

"I find that highly unlikely," the president replied. "They're designed to sing, not to monitor data traffic."

"Still, they might have something useful to say."

"I suppose it would not hurt, and most will be down on the same level anyway." He turned to the Vocaloid. "Miku, be so kind as to show them down to the lab. Let Dr. Suzuhara know that she is to cooperate with these gentlemen."

The Vocaloid rose and bowed to the president. "Yes sir. Mr. Motosuwa, Mr. Kokubunji, please come with me."

Miku let out a visible sigh of relief as the office door closed behind them. Then all of a sudden she shouted, "Waah! Being called into the president's office is so scary! I always feel like I've done something wrong! if it's not 'Miku, we're adding another 100 songs to your memory because your last album undersold,' it's 'Miku, we're doubling up your schedule.' All I can do is sit there and go 'yes sir, sorry sir, please sir.' And now this theft business, and none of us might be safe."

Hideki tried to stay out of the way of her outburst, oddly fascinated by it. This was another behavior that someone had to have programmed her with. She seemed a different person than she had been in the lobby. He wondered whether all Vocaloids were like her, or if Miku was the only one. He thought back to his own persocoms, and their wide range of personalities. Either option would be possible.

In her nervousness, Miku somehow managed to trip over her own foot. Arms flailing, twintails flying wildly, the Vocaloid pitched forward. She landed head first with a crash, coming to rest upside down. But while momentum and the force of gravity were finished with her body, the same could not be said about her clothing. Her skirt flipped up, and Hideki suddenly found himself staring at a pattern of white and green cotton stripes.

Miku tried to right herself but her limbs had become entangled in her long hair, and she only succeeded in wiggling her hips. The last of her earlier façade of professional but friendly calm was gone, replaced by a klutzy, blushing schoolgirl.

With her head between her knees, she cried out, "No, don't look!"

Hideki blushed as he tried to not look. He could not help it; such a cute girl in such a shameless position was too much for him. The deepest, most animal part of his brain was transfixed: unable move, unable to look away. The form-fitting cotton panties hugged Miku's curves and shapely thighs perfectly.

Finally extricating her limbs from her twintails, Miku righted herself and pulled her skirt down to cover her panties. She stood, blush simulators making the vocaloid's cheeks deep red, and tried to regain some of her lost dignity. "Right. Umm, this way." She marched stiffly forward like a toy soldier, setting each step carefully and deliberately.

Hideki sighed and followed her to the elevator, trying to calm down both his face and his trousers. To his left, Minoru wore an amused smirk. If the other Vocaloids were as lively as Hatsune Miku, then he was in for quite an interesting time.


	3. Track 3: Soul Breeze

Track 3: Soul Breeze

Miku was still blushing as the elevator stopped at their destination. She had relaxed somewhat during the ride down, regaining some of her previous professional demeanor, but was not entirely back to normal. Hideki did his best to pretend nothing had happened, as much for his own sanity as respect for her. As he had done for years with Chi, he tried to remind himself that she was a persocom: a machine, not a person. It worked as well as it always had, which was to say not at all.

When the doors finally slid open, they found themselves in a landing little larger than the elevator. The rest of the floor was cut off by a steel door marked "authorized personal only beyond this point." the small black box of an RFID sensor was bolted to the wall next to it, a red LED on its surface glowing. The small dome of a security camera was mounted above it, and another was mounted in the ceiling above them. Miku waved her hand over the device, then tilted her head up to look into the lower camera. After a moment the red LED blinked, and with a whine the door slid open.

"This floor is one of the more secure parts of the building," she explained, "Only six or seven humans have access here."

As they reached an intersection in the hallway a blonde boy rushed past them, followed shortly by an equally blonde girl. They were so close in height and appearance that they had to be twins, or at least made to look that way. Hideki recognized them; they were the two vocaloids from the display in the lobby.

The girl called out, "Len, give it back!"

"Catch me then!" the boy replied.

As they disappeared around the corner, the girl called out, "Kaito! Len took my hairbrush and won't give it back!"

"Who was that?" Hideki asked.

"Kagamine Len and Rin," Miku explained, "They were created to be a twin act, but do a lot of solo performances as well. Len can be a bit of a brat sometimes, but really he's a good brother." It souned to Hideki like she was reading from a website bio.

The Vocaloid stopped at a door sealed by another RFID sensor. At another wave from Miku, it opened into a large room.

The lab could not have been more different from the office they had left above. There was no clever disguising of modern technology here, no tasteful wooden veneer to present an image of luxury; it flaunted its nature openly and proudly. The brushed steel and molded plastic of the walls gave it a high-tech, futuristic feel. Most of the illumination came from recessed panels in the walls and ceiling which bathed the space in pale light. It reminded Hideki of the medical bay out of a science fiction spaceship.

In one corner sat a circular desk which wrapped around a high-backed office chair. A line of coffin-shaped operating tables jutted out from the side wall, each one set below a computer monitor. Shelves were inset into the walls between them, their contents protected behind sliding glass panels. Every available surface was cluttered with papers, wires, robotic limbs, circuit boards, and other objects less describable. Cardboard boxes sat stacked one on top of another, each labeled in thick black marker. A persocom's metal skeleton stood on a pedestal to one side, an umbrella hooked onto one arm and a scarf thrown carelessly around its neck.

The only tidy area was a small section of the desk, where a display or impromptu shrine had been set up. A fully articulated doll sat in a glass case, its gold and white outfit resembling that of a valkyrie or knight. A small nameplate on the bottom read "Athena."

A woman in a white labcoat stood over one of the operating tables. Her curly, mahogany-colored hair had been pulled back in a loose ponytail which threatened to burst free at any moment. She looked to be in her mid thirties; age lines had just begun to form at the corners of her eyes and edges of her mouth. But those lines simply seemed to enhance her charm, giving her a settled, mature look.

A persocom lay on the table, most of its frame covered by a white cloth. The woman was up to her elbows in its chest cavity, holding a penlight in her mouth for illumination. Next to her, folding out of the wall, was a surgical tray. A series of tools and components had been lined up tidily on its surface.

Miku called to her. "Mother, I'm here with the two men who are looking into the theft. Boss says we should cooperate with them completely."

The woman set down her tools and penlight, then removed a pair of anti-static wristbands. She gave a curt bow. "I'm Dr. Suzuhara. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Hideki bowed. "Motosuwa Hideki, and this is Kokubunji Minoru. Sorry for disturbing you."

Dr. Suzuhara waved away his concerns. "It's no trouble at all. Frankly, I could use a disturbance."

"Is everything alright?" Hideki asked.

The doctor shrugged. "No different from normal. The higherups want me to build another four Vocaloids and have them up and running by next quarter. Say they want more dedicated Chinese-language singers." She wiped her hands on the edge of her coat, leaving dark dark grease stains on the white cotton. "They don't seem to understand that these things take time."

"All that on top of our normal maintenance checkups," Miku added, "Mother works very hard to keep us running."

Hideki gestured to the line of components arranged on the tray. "So then these parts?"

"That's a Vocaloid," she replied, "Or rather everything you need to build one." She pointed to each of the components out in turn. "A Yanaha VOC-4 vocal chip, that's the core of the whole thing. High-reliability speech system to take the strain of extended singing. Bluetooth radio, so that they can interface with the special headsets they wear in concerts. Humanlike ears, for added realism."

"I hope you'll forgive my rudeness," Minoru interrupted, "But I'd like to examine the Vocaloid affected by this."

"Oh, yes, of course!," the woman replied. She wiped her hands on her coat again, crossing the previous grease stains with even more grease stains. "I'm keeping her over here. In the corner."

The last of the line of operating tables was occupied by a humanoid figure under a white sheet. Dr. Suzuhara pulled back the covering with the reverence one would afford to a human corpse. She shuddered. "I hate seeing one of my children like this."

Hideki and Minoru bent down to examine the table's occupant. The persocom underneath had been made to look several years older than miku, perhaps 20 or 25. Her black hair was cut into a chin-length inverted bob cut. Her outfit was little more than a black tube top bra with a strap over one shoulder and a pair of black jeans. Neon purple eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling. The details were that of a more primitive persocom than Miku; skin less elastic, eyes less detailed, fingernails too perfect. A cable ran from a port behind her ears to the overhead monitor.

"Who found her?" Minoru asked.

"That was Kaito." She quickly corrected herself. "I was the first _human_ that found her. I was asleep when Kaito called me and said she wasn't responding. Apparently, she had plugged herself into a diagnostic terminal here in the lab. At about that time, the network persocom recorded an enormous amount of outbound data traffic."

The feeling at the back of Hideki's mind returned. Something about this entire situation didn't feel right. A persocom's data was not just their programming and memories, it was their identity. He knew the vocaloid was not human, but It was almost as if someone had taken her soul.

Minoru gestured to the monitor. "Would you mind if I do some diagnostics? Maybe I can find something."

Dr. Suzuhara nodded. "Sure. Hang on, I know I have a keyboard and mouse around here somewhere."

The doctor walked over to her desk and began pushing things aside. Hideki winced as he heard various objects clattering to the ground. Papers fluttered in every direction, settling like autumn leaves. After a moment, she held up the devices in triumph.

"If you'll excuse me, I'd like to talk to some of the other Vocaloids," Hideki called over to her. "I'm not really talented with this sort of thing, but I might be able to learn something from them."

"Fine with me," she replied.

"Some of them should probably be in the lounge now," Miku offered, "At least those not out doing concerts or photoshoots."

"Lead the way then."

"Mr. Motosuwa?" it was Dr. Suzuhara. new creases had formed on her forehead, twisting her face into an expression of worry. "Please bring her back safe. I can't bear to think what might be happening to her right now, even if it is just her data."

Hideki thought about the doctor as Miku led him to the lounge. Her comments had not been lost on him, how she talked about her creations. She thought of the Vocaloids as her children, as living things. More than anyone, she should know that their actions were entirely dictated by programming. Still, they were so incredibly lifelike. Perhaps to her they were alive.

Miku led him almost to the complete opposite side of the building. They passed by doors embossed with nameplates, storage rooms, and at least one bathroom. Miku seemed at ease once again, walking confidently ahead of him.

The lounge was an open space the size of a large coffee shop. Posters and golden vinyl records hung along the walls. Couches, chairs, and tables were scattered throughout, some in clusters, other by themselves.

Their way was blocked almost immediately by a female vocaloid with leaf green eyes and matching shoulder-length hair. She had a similar build to Miku, resembling a girl of sixteen or seventeen. Her outfit reminded Hideki of an orange creamsicle; bright orange with white accents. Between her low-cut, midriff-bearing jacket and short shorts, It also seemed designed to show as much skin as possible without being too immodest. A pair of red and white goggles had been pushed up to the top of her head.

The green-haired girl approached Miku, stopping only when their faces were inches away from one another. Miku cried out in surprise. "Gumi!"

"You've brought someone back with you," the girl said accusingly. "He looks like a cameraman. What happened, did you have a photo shoot and take a fancy to the photographer." She gave Hideki an appraising, almost predatory gaze.

"N-no!" Miku denied. She was blushing profusely. "I'm not you!"

"Well, Maybe he's still here for a fun time. Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Mr. Motosuwa, this is Gumi. She's a friend, sort of, and one of the most popular of us," Miku sighed. "God only knows why for either."

"It's because I'm like you but sexier," Gumi retorted.

"I'm here to look into the incident with Lola," Hideki finally managed to interject before the two could continue.

Gumi looked disappointed. "Oh, I see. Well, come on in I guess."

The twins he had seen before were there, not making eye contact but seated beside one another in the same chair. A blue-haired Vocaloid, modeled to look like a man Hideki's age, was reading a book. Two others, a man with a long violet ponytail and a slim girl with a reddish-brown bobcut, sat at a table playing a game of shogi. Perhaps a dozen others were scattered across the lounge, Their rainbow of hair colors creating a technicolor sea. A quick appraisal told him that he was the only human in the room.

"How many vocaloids are there?" he asked aloud.

"Dozens," Miku replied, "And more all the time."

Hideki spoke up. "Excuse me, I'm here looking for information about Lola. Did any of you know her well?"

The blue-haired young man replied. "Meiko and I could probably answer that for you. We were V1s like her originally."

Hideki took a seat next to the blue-haired Vocaloid. "May I ask your name?"

"Kaito," the Vocaloid replied.

"You were the one that found her, weren't you?"

"That's right. I'd damaged my wrist onstage and went to the lab to have it fixed, not realizing Mother was out. Lola was slumped over, connected to one of the diagnostic terminals. I thought that she'd crashed or encountered a virus. Of course, I called Mother right away."

"Is there any reason you can think someone would want to take her data in particular?"

Kaito shrugged. "Not really. She's never really evolved beyond being a V1."

"What do you mean?" Hideki pressed.

"When we V1s were made, we were nothing like Vocaloids are now. It was a very different time back then. People didn't think of us as idols or musicians. We were a technological curiosity: a tool people could rent when they did not have singer for an album or an event. It wasn't until Miku made her debut that the public really took an interest in us."

Miku blushed and fidgeted. "Kaito…"

Kaito continued. "Mother created her to be more than just a backup singer; She was a pop idol in her own right. People loved her, and before long started taking interest in the rest of us. Really, it was she that saved us from eventually ending up on the scrap heap."

Miku cut in "Stop, I'm embarrassed!"

Kaito gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm just telling the truth. After that, they started giving us the same sort of software that they gave her: defined personality data, social media functions—all sorts of things."

"So, what about Lola? Didn't she get the same sort of upgrade?"

"Mother had a much harder time expanding on her programming, and it was never entirely successful. Even for Meiko and myself, it wasn't until we were transferred to V3 hardware that the process was complete."

"And Lola never got that," Hideki concluded.

"She wasn't popular enough, so she was never upgraded past V1, and she couldn't get more popular because she hadn't been upgraded."

"Sounds like she was trapped in a vicious cycle."

Hideki fell silent as he watched the other Vocaloids in the space. The more he watched them, the less they seemed like persocoms of any kind. Their interactions seemed so natural: very human even though he was the only human present. Programmed behaviors? Hideki wondered about that.

Finally, he stood. "Thank you for your help. I think I have a good idea where to start now"

"Is there anything else you need?" Miku asked.

"Not for the moment," Hideki replied, "Thank you for all of your help."

Miku heasitated. After a moment, she blurted out, "If you need anything else, feel free to come back at any time."

"Thanks," Hideki replied, "I'll see you again sometime."

The teal-haired Vocaloid gave a nervous smile. At the door, however, her expression soured. "You saw nothing, got that? I have a reputation I need to protect, and I can't have you spreading rumors that I show off… _those_ to everyone I meet."

he raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Not a word, don't worry."

her smile returned.

As Hideki reached the elevator, Minoru approached from the direction. Before either of them said anything, the young man handed Hideki a plastic ID card. "Dr. Suzuhara had these printed off for us. We've been given full access to this floor."

Hideki took his. "Find anything interesting?"

"The person that did this was thorough enough to do several passes of overwriting to ensure the data can't be recovered. I also checked the network for methods of entry. This building's system is run and protected by an IBN Talos-13 persocom. No average hacker could have done this; whoever stole her would need a working knowledge of Z/architecture, along with a dozen other things."

"I don't think she _was_ stolen," Hideki mused. "I think she ran away."

Minoru stared blankly at him. The moment lasted just long enough for Hideki to think he had said something stupid. The younger man finally replied, "Hideki, I don't think I give you enough credit. That's exactly right."

"You think so?"

Minoru nodded. "It's the only explanation for why they requested our help, yours especially. If this had been a simple theft, it could have been handled by the police, or a PI firm. It has to be your experience with Chi that they need: talking to persocoms as people rather than appliances."

Hideki asked, "So they want us to, what, have you find her and then have me talk her into coming back?"

Minoru frowned. "It seems that way."

"Why didn't they just tell us then?"

"Perhaps they don't fully believe that's what happened," he mused, "Or perhaps they just don't want to admit it. This company's industry is built on the Vocaloids acting within their image as idols. To think that they might not have complete control would be unsettling to say the least."

As the elevator doors closed behind them, Minoru made eye contact with Hideki, a serious expression on his face. "Since you're going to be investigating this with me, I'm going to warn you right now. You're probably going to see some very strange and disturbing aspects of persocom users."

"Don't forget that we pulled Chi from some pretty difficult situations," Hideki replied.

Minoru sighed. "A sleazy webcam show and an obsessed fan are the least of our concerns. Persocoms look and feel almost exactly like humans but they aren't, and they aren't afforded the same protections we are. In situations like that, the darker side of humanity tends to show itself. Most people are harmless, but there are some…"

Hideki gulped. He was not sure he understood what his friend was implying. He thought he had seen every use for Persocoms. Some used them as nothing but machines, some saw them as companions, some even had sex with or married their persocoms. And now apparently persocoms were entertainers. What else was out there? Hideki was not sure he wanted to know the answer. He had to be ready for anything, he guessed.

"I understand." Hideki hoped he really did.


	4. Track 4: Ai Kotoba

Track 4: Ai Kotoba

The occasional cloud drifted by overhead, momentarily blocking the sun before disappearing across the sky. Trees rustled in a gentle breeze which could just barely be felt at ground level.

Hideki was lost in his own thoughts. Persocoms. Vocaloids. All of their actions were dictated by programming, right? They all seemed so lifelike. Chi, Yuzuki, Sumomo and Kotoko, and now the Vocaloids. All that was the result of clever coding. Chi's older sister, Freya, she had said so herself. Was it really impossible for them to go beyond it? He had never even heard of a persocom running away from its owner.

Hideki felt a finger poke his face. He looked up to see Chi looking at him concerned.

"Chi?" The syllable carried a question with it.

"I'm sorry," Hideki replied, "I drifted off for a moment."

Chi still looked curious. "What were you thinking about?"

"Umm, er…" Programmed or not, it was rude to ignore her. He had promised Chi that they would spend the day together, she deserved his full attention.

Something was different about the way she looked. It was not her clothing; a cute but modest sun dress that their landlady had given her years ago. Her face was just as cute as ever; sparkling brown eyes, small upturned nose and perfectly shaped mouth.

"Did you braid your hair, Chi?"

Chi touched one of the plaits which now hung to either side of her face. Large pink bows tied off their ends. She nodded happily. "Ms. Hibiya taught me! Does it look good?"

"It's cute!" Hideki exclaimed, and he meant it too. It seemed impossible for Chi to _not_ look cute.

"Ms. Hibiya teaches me lots of things. She says she likes when we spend time together."

"You like spending time with her then."

Chi nodded. "It's different from how I feel about you, but I feel happy when I'm with her."

Hideki fidgeted. He still could not bring himself to tell Chi the truth about their landlady, about her and Chi's shared history. Between her interactions with the woman and speaking to her sister's "heart," he sometimes wondered how much Chi already knew, but she had never revealed anything.

Ms. Hibiya was Chi's mother, or as close to a mother that she had. The landlady had always wanted children but was infertile. Her husband had built a pair of robotic daughters for her, supporting his project by using it as the basis for creating Persocoms. A great many things had happened between then and the time Hideki had found her lying on a pile of trash. Ms. Hibiya had promised her husband she would not interfere with Chi's further development, but she seemingly could not stay away completely.

The two of them looked up at the sound of flapping wings. A flock of ducks was landing at the edge of the nearby pond. Chi reached into the basket they had brought, withdrawing a small bag of birdseed. She scattered a handful of the seeds on the ground in front of them, then watched patiently as the ducks approached. They were cautious at first, but as time went by and Chi made no threatening moves, they drew close enough for her to touch them.

"Is work still going well?" Hideki asked. Chi worked several days a week at Chiroru, a bakery owned by one of their close friends.

Chi nodded. "Manager says business is better than ever. He says he'll give me a raise."

"That's nice of him. Remember to thank him if he does."

"If I get more money, we can buy curtains for the window. Then you won't have the sun in your eyes in the morning."

"If that's what you want to use your paycheck for," he replied. "It's your money, Chi."

Chi held out a handful of seeds. One duck, braver than the others, approached and began eating from her palm. "Ms. Yumi and manager moved into a new place last week. They seem really happy now."

"Good to hear. It feels like it's been forever since I saw them."

The ducks scattered as someone called over to them. "You could always just drop by!"

Speak of the devil. Hideki looked up to see a man and woman walking arm in arm. He waved. "Hiro! Yumi! What are you doing here?"

"It's our lunch hour together!" Yumi squeezed Hiro's arm tighter, her breasts pressing against the baker. Yumi had always been particularly well endowed, a fact she was not shy about.

Hideki suddenly realized something. "Wait, if both of you are here, and Chi doesn't work today, who's watching the bakery?"

"I have an old friend of mine who comes in on the days when Chi doesn't work," Hiro replied, "I trust him enough to run things alone for an hour."

Hideki gestured to the blanket. "In that case, take a seat if you're not in a hurry to get back."

The two of them settled down across from Hideki and Chi. "Are things going alright? Chi said you've been pretty busy lately with classes."

Hideki stretched and slumped back on the blanket. "I'm doing everything I can just to stay afloat. It's been far too long since I've just relaxed and spent time with Chi, so I figured I could afford a day off for once."

"Don't work yourself too hard," Hiro replied, "You don't want to burn out with half the semester left."

"Hopefully classes will be a little lighter in the future, if this new work study thing really goes through."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "You found a new job? Some sort of internship? What are you doing?"

"I'm not allowed to talk about it." The phrase felt unnatural coming out of Hideki's mouth. He immediately followed with, "I'm sorry, they made me sign a non-disclosure agreement.

"It sounds serious," Yumi commented, "Are you sure it's alright?"

"I'm with Minoru and it's a major company, so it should be fine. I can at least tell you that I'm working for a corporation called Yanaha Cybernetics."

Yumi gasped. "No way! The Vocaloid company?"

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's them. How do you know that?"

"We love them!" Yumi exclaimed, "Especially Gumi and Gackupo."

His eyes went wide with surprise. He could not believe Yumi, of all people, liked vocaloids. Uncertain how to reply, he turned to Hiro instead. "You too?"

The baker smiled. "Miku, Gumi, and Flower are my favorites."

"Hiro has a thing for the ones that look like teenage girls," Yumi commented. she winked. "No change there, then." Yumi had only been seventeen when she confessed her feelings to Hiro. The baby-faced baker was twice her age, and had not wanted to force his own feelings on such a young woman. Not unless she spoke up first. But Yumi had been insistent, and Hiro was more than willing.

Chi tilted her head. "What's a Vocaloid?"

"They're Persocoms that sing," Yumi explained. "And they're all so pretty and colorful! I can't believe Hideki's really working for them. That's so cool, I'm a little jealous."

Hideki frowned. "So does everyone know about Vocaloids but me?"

"Pretty much," Yumi replied, "They've become huge in the last few years."

"She's even thought about making one herself," Hideki added.

Hideki blinked. "You can do that?"

Yumi nodded. "They sell something called an 'Utau' kit now," Yumi explained. "You can use it to turn any persocom into a singer."

"It's not _exactly_ the same, of course," Hiro added, "the stuff they use for the Vocaloids is a corporate secret. But they do a pretty good job, the kit comes with instructions for people that aren't as good with making modifications."

Chi looked thoughtful. "Persocoms that sing…" She stared off across the water.

Hideki wondered what the persocom was thinking about. Chi had never even tried to sing; neither of them had ever had reason to think about it. If she wanted to, would it be possible? He had no idea if she could even be modified in that way. After all of these years, they still knew very little about how she worked or what components she was built from; that knowledge had died with Chi's father. He and Minoru had not even been able to back up her data in case something happened.

The ducks had returned. Chi pulled out another handful of birdseed. She turned to Yumi. "Do you want to help feed them?"

"Sure," Yumi replied.

The two girls moved cautiously toward the birds, leaving Hideki and Hiro alone.

"I heard that the two of you are moving into a new place," Hideki began.

"That apartment was really only big enough for one person, and the walls were so thin we had to be quiet all the time. Things have picked up enormously with both Chi and Yumi working with me, and I can afford a real place for us to live now."

Hideki sighed. "I wish my schedule would let me come back and work for you again. I miss being able to see you and Yumi all the time."

"You seem to be doing pretty well for yourself," Hiro pointed out. "I still can't believe it. Yanaha Cybernetics. I never would have thought."

" _I_ can't believe that the two of you are fans of Vocaloids. Yumi's the last person I'd expect to go wild for any sort of persocom."

The older man glanced to where the two girls sat surrounded by ducks. He leaned in close, speaking low so that only Hideki would hear. "To be honest, I'm more than a little worried. It's done some good, making her okay with Persocoms again. But they're all so much more like their image than human idols are. None of them grow up, develop problems, or have scandals, unless their company wants them to. It's a standard no human could possibly live up to. I don't want her going through what she did before."

Hideki nodded his understanding. He knew about Yumi's inferiority complex toward Persocoms, something her relationship with Hiro had unfortunately caused. With the help of Chi and Hideki she had managed to overcome it somewhat, but there was always a risk of it returning.

"I've been wondering about something, actually," Hideki replied, "I had the chance to talk to some of the Vocaloids while I was there, and of course I've been living with Chi. They seemed so real, like I was talking to other people. Is it really all just programming? Data that can be changed or erased at any moment?"

Hiro smiled sadly. The look in the man's eyes made Hideki immediately regret asking. He had not meant to dredge up painful memories from Hiro's former relationship.

"They're as real as we want them to be," the baker replied, "Sometimes too real."

Yumi's watch began to beep. Ducks scattered once again as she turned off the alarm and checked the time. She stood and turned to Hiro. "That's time for us to start heading back. She turned to Hideki. "It was really nice seeing you both."

"Hopefully I'll be able to drop by the bakery more often now," Hideki agreed. "It's been a while since I've had any of the cookies you make."

Yumi smiled. "Maybe we can all go to a Vocaloid concert together sometime. A double date!'

"Sounds great!" He waved goodbye as Hiro an Yumi left the park, once again arm in arm.

Chi sighed. "Chi wishes she could be like Ms. Yumi. She's so nice, and always knows what to do when manager is feeling down."

"But if you were her, you wouldn't be you then," Hideki pointed out, "And that wouldn't be right."

"Chi makes you happy?" her voice held all of the earnestness of a child.

He patted her on the head. "I like you the way you are."

Chi threw her arms around Hideki, hugging his chest. After a moment, Hideki embraced her. What did it matter; no one was watching them.

Her voice was muffled slightly as she spoke. "I love you!"

Hideki stroked her hair. "I love you too."

Classes, work, runaway Vocaloids, all of it could wait. He and Chi still had the rest of the day they could spend together.


	5. Track 5: Pomp and Circumstance

Track 5: Pomp and Circumstance

Each time he visited Minoru's house, Hideki felt a little more comfortable there. The lavish mansion was a far cry from the small apartment where Hideki lived with Chi. Walled off from its surroundings, a long driveway led up to it from the gate. The foyer, halls, and drawing room were so familiar to him he could have navigated them blind. Even Minoru's scantily clad maid persocoms barely provoked a reaction anymore. They seemed to fade into the background as he removed his shoes and put on house slippers.

At this time a week ago, he would have just been getting out of class. Hideki could not help but be impressed by the speed with which Yanaha Cybernetics had worked. By the time he had arrived on Monday, his professors already knew about his "work study" and were ready to discuss what he would require for it.

Minoru seemed preoccupied as Yuzuki served them drinks in the drawing room. The young man stared at the persocom, a slight frown creasing his mouth. As the she closed the door behind her, Hideki asked, "Is everything alright?"

Minoru startled as Hideki spoke. "It's fine, I'm just a bit worried about Yuzuki. I found her knitting the yesterday."

Hideki blinked. " _Knitting_? I didn't know she could do that?"

"That's the strange part," Minoru replied, "she can't. She doesn't have any software for it, unless she somehow downloaded it herself without telling me, or learned on her own. I can't imagine why she would."

"So, what does that mean?" Hideki asked. "Some sort of glitch? A problem with her memory?"

"I don't know." The younger man took a long sip from his lemonade. "But one mystery at a time. We need to focus on finding the missing Vocaloid."

"I get the sense you already have an idea of where to start."

Minoru did his best to conceal a smile as he opened a folder on the table in front of them. At the top of a stack of papers was a diagram of boxes and arrows. A label in the upper right corner marked it as a "LAN Schematic."

The younger man began, "Our little runaway would need to have some place in mind to transfer her data. It wouldn't do her much good to just upload herself to a webhost or archival site; that would be like putting herself in cold storage with no way out. She would need a persocom on the outside that could receive and run her data. That would mean either an accomplice or hacking into an unsecured machine."

"Isn't there some way you can figure out where the data was sent?" Hideki suggested.

"The IP address was for a proxy server," Minoru replied. "I have Yuzuki and the others running a trace on where it was redirected to after that point."

Hideki took a sip of his drink. "How does a persocom designed to be a singer know how to cover her tracks?"

Minoru sighed. "That's a really good question. It would make sense if she had an accomplice, but if not then we don't have an answer. For the time being, it might be best for us to act as if we really were searching for stolen software. We'll be following the same leads, and people will be much more likely to believe us."

"Sounds alright to me," Hideki replied. "to be honest, I'd have a hard time buying it myself."

Minoru moved to the next page in the folder. This one was a GPS map of the city with more than a dozen spots marked. "Assuming Lola stayed in Tokyo, things become a little simpler for us to track. Once she was out, she would need somewhere to hide: a persocom walking around on its own would draw a great deal of attention."

"I'd guess somewhere you'd expect to find unusual 'coms," Hideki mused. "She was programmed to be a singer, so maybe a place where people have persocoms made with the Utau kit ."

The younger man nodded. "I've marked off all of the typical hangouts for modders, and narrowed it down to just those where Utauloids are common. I've also been keeping track of things on Channel 23 to see if there were any leads there."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "What's channel 23?"

"Underground news network," Minoru replied dismissively, "It's a streaming web service that provides coverage for cyber cafés and clubs. So far it's turned up about a dozen strong possibilities." Minoru pulled a pamphlet out of the folder and handed it to Hideki. "Here's the most likely place I've found."

Hideki studied the glossy paper. Bold letters across its top read "Club Mercer." Images on a dark purple background depicted a bar or club lit in neon shades. He could see a small stage surrounded by a sea of tables, a bar with a luminous surface, and a large crowd dancing. The lighting was such that he could not tell who was a persocom and who a human. At the bottom was a street map and address.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"A cyber cabaret," Minoru replied. "It's a hangout for modders to show off the capabilities of their latest creations. Utauloids are a mainstay of their performances. I've arranged to meet someone there tonight; a friend of Kojima's from the custom persocom BBS. He has a bad reputation which is not undeserved, but he knows pretty much everything that goes on in shady side of the community."

"Have you ever been there before?"

The younger man shrugged. "Only once or twice. Too loud for me. Too many unwashed bodies in too small of a space."

"Is it safe?"

Minoru fidgeted. "It's not dangerous, but it's a pretty odd place. It attracts a lot of the sort of people you'd expect, but also some hardcore oldschool cyberpunks."

"I'll go with you," Hideki said, "Then tomorrow I think I'm going to go back to Yanaha and talk to the Vocaloids more."

Now it was Minoru's turn to ask a question. "Do you think they know something beyond what they told you?"

Hideki shrugged. "Maybe. Lola's been with Yanaha for years, it seems a little strange that she would just suddenly run away. Why now, what changed? I want to understand what it's like for them."

Minoru smiled. "This is why they wanted you looking into this case."

Yuzuki was waiting for them out in the hallway. "Will you be going out, Master Minoru?"

Minoru nodded. "Yes. Let the chauffeur know we'll be leaving shortly, going to dinner first, then to Club Mercer."

"I've already alerted him, sir, he's standing by."

"A step ahead as always, Yuzuki," he replied. "Thank you."

The persocom scrutinized her master's outfit. "Master Minoru, shouldn't you change into your dinner jacket before leaving?"

Minoru glanced down at the shirt he wore. The sleeves of his button-down were rolled up, the collar left open. "You're right, I can't go out like this." He turned to Hideki. "Please excuse me. I should only be a moment."

"Do you want my assistance?" Yuzuki asked.

"I should be fine," the young man replied. "We shouldn't abandon our guest."

As Minoru left the room, Yuzuki placed her hands over where a human's heart would be. Hideki swore that he saw the persocom sigh.

He remembered what Minoru had told him earlier, about finding Yuzuki knitting, and studied the persocom with interest. Yuzuki had become such a fixture when he visited the boy genius; It had been a long time since he had seriously looked at her. She was mostly the same as she had always been: the same face and build. Her thigh-length blue hair was, as ever, worn in two long brads. But there were also subtle differences, the most obvious being her clothing. While still dressed as a maid, her outfit was less reserved than before; shorter sleeves and skirt, a more open collar, knee—high stockings and garters in place of dark nylons. The jewelry was also new: blue stud earrings and a matching pendant on a silver chain.

Like Chi, she was one of the more human-like persocoms he had met. While most of their kind still had the stiff, polite demeanor of machines, the two of them were lively and reacted in ways which did not seem programmed. Unlike Chi, however, Yuzuki had begun with an established personality. Following the death of his sister, Minoru had done his best to recreate her. Other than her hair color, she was outwardly identical to the pictures of Kaede which the young man kept. Originally there had been much more; he had programmed Yuzuki with his sister's likes and dislikes, her habits, and her speech patterns. Most of that data had been lost eventually, and Minoru had declined to reenter it.

She had changed a great deal after that. It had started with small things; a more confident walk, a tendency to hum to herself. Even the way she spoke was different; more sure of herself. Somewhere between the remnants of Kaede's data, the persocom's housekeeping programs, and Yuzuki's own experiences, a new personality had emerged. She was still kind and nurturing, but no longer sisterly.

"Is something wrong sir?" The persocom was looking at him with a concerned expression.

Hideki had suddenly realized he was gawking at her. He blushed. "I-I was just thinking how much you'd changed."

She raised her eyebrows. "Have I?"

"All for the better," he immediately added, "You've become even more human. I meant it as a compliment."

"I suppose it's inevitable," the persocom replied. "I've been operating for five years now with learning software. And there was the crash from hacking the national databank, of course." Yuzuki gave a slight smile, blush simulators flushing her cheeks. "Master Minoru has also made some…additions to my programming."

Hideki was not sure if he wanted to know what she meant. Propriety won out, and he changed the subject. "In any case, you and Minoru seem happy together."

"He's been very kind to me. We went to see a play last week."

"Did you enjoy it?" he asked.

Yuzuki blinked. "Enjoy? Master Minoru was happy, so I was happy as well. It was an interesting play: a translated Czech work from the early twentieth century. In that sense one might say I enjoyed it."

She seemed normal enough to Hideki. Perhaps Minoru was simply paranoid about something going wrong with her. Hideki knew he would feel the same if Chi started acting out of character.

Minoru finally descended the staircase, making final adjustments to his cuffs. Next to him, Hideki heard Yuzuki give a good impression of a human gasp.

Hideki had to admit, Minoru looked amazing in western-style eveningwear: bleached white shirt with black jacket, slacks, and bowtie. It helped that the outfit had clearly been tailored, all of the folds and creases falling precisely where they should. No doubt he drew the attention of quite a number of girls. It made Hideki feel horribly under-dressed in his t-shirt and jeans.

Without prompt, Yuzuki moved forward and made an almost imperceptible adjustment to the Minoru's tie. The young man smiled in appreciation. "Thank you."

Yuzuki smiled. "My pleasure, master. The limo is waiting. Shall we go now?"


	6. Track 6: My Seventh Celebration

Track 6: My Seventh Celebration

The entrance was unassuming enough: a garage underneath an overpass. If it were not for the fluorescent sign, Hideki would have thought the driver had dropped them at the wrong place. Most of the surrounding buildings seemed to be warehouses, leaving the area deserted besides the four of them.

Minoru leaned in the limo's window to speak to the driver. "Yuzuki will call when we're ready to leave. We shouldn't be more than three hours."

The driver nodded and wordlessly drove off. Minoru strode over to a steel door set into the side of the garage and pushed it open. The building's interior was almost as uninspiring as the outside had been: most of it empty and covered in dust. Posters were plastered along one wall, forming a path which led towards the back of the building. At their end, a set of concrete stairs led down into a basement. Words were written above them in luminous paint.

Hideki raised his eyebrow as he read them. "Long live the new flesh?"

"It's from a film," Minoru explained, "This place is a pastiche of old science fiction."

At the base of the steps was a steel door, multicolored light just barely visible through the cracks around it. A man in a dark shirt blocked their way. He scrutinized both of them, noticed Minoru's clothing, then waved them through.

The club was crowded compared to the garage above: somewhere between fifty and a hundred people had squeezed themselves into the space. It was much the same as he had seen in the pamphlet: stage, luminous bar, cabaret tables in the center, all lit in luminous shades. Corridors extended off to either side, the doors to private rooms at regular intervals.

They heard the twanging of a shamisen as they entered. Five persocoms were onstage; one playing the aforementioned instrument while the others moved in exaggerated gestures.

"The bouncer didn't ask for ID," Hideki observed.

"One of the benefits of looking rich," Minoru replied, "They won't cause you trouble if they think you'll spend a lot."

With a final strum, the performance came to an end. The persocoms lined up and bowed.

A man dressed in a dark suit walked onstage. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he announced, "the all-persocom theater troupe!" There was a smattering of applause. The announcer spoke once again. "And now, back by popular demand, Sukone Tei!"

A white-haired persocom with red eyes emerged onto the stage, greeted by thunderous applause. As the clapping died the sound of an organ faded in, the first few chords met by cheers. The persocom held up a microphone and began.

Minoru and Shinbo had been right; he had not heard a persocom sing before. Not like this; this was not just a music file. It was immediate, it was new—it was _music_. And while she did not sound entirely like a human being, the performance had a character all its own. She seemed to be singing a love song, but the lyrics disturbed him. They subtly hinted at obsession; an unhealthy feeling of attachment.

The three sat down at one of the cabaret tables, closer to the bar than to the stage. After a few moments, a female persocom with brown and white hair approached them. Hideki gawked as he first saw her clearly. Dressed in a green vest and orange shorts, she stood perhaps a few centimeters taller than Chi. Her arms and legs ended in birdlike talons. Feathers sprouted from along her arms, forming a pair of wings the same colors as her hair. Hideki fished through his memory for the right term for the creature, and remembered it from a manga he had read. She was a harpy or siren, or rather a persocom designed to look like one.

"Hi there," she said in an upbeat voice, "welcome to Club Mercer. I'm Calandra, your server. Can I get you anything? Beer? Soda? Energy drinks? Maybe a Slod for your persocom?"

"Cola for me," Minoru replied.

"I'll have one as well," Hideki added.

Yuzuki looked to Minoru. At a slight shake of the head from him, she said, "Nothing for me."

Their server turned her head toward the bar and shouted, "Two Colas, table 6."

"What's a Slod?" Hideki asked as the siren walked off to the next table.

"Self-limiting operational disruptor," Minoru explained, "they're programs which simulate the effects of alcohol. If you want your persocom to join in the fun they're alright, but they're easily exploited for more sinister purposes."

As Calandra retreated, another persocom approached. If the siren was a little odd, the persocom which now approached was truly bizarre. At first, Hideki thought she was topless and wearing some form of pasties. As she drew closer, however, he realized his mistake. He was right about her being topless, but Artificial flesh gave way to plastic and metal at the tips of her breasts, with a soda fountain spout emerging from each one. Hideki was so taken aback that no other details of her appearance registered.

"Diet or regular?" the persocom asked.

Hideki was too tongue-tied to reply. Minoru ordered for him, holding out a credit card. "Two regular."

After running Minoru's card through a reader built into her left arm, The persocom filled a pair of cups from one of her spouts. She set them down on the table and, with stiff movements, left.

Hideki continued to gawk after the construct as she walked over to another table. He had heard of persocoms which were non-human in appearance; Yumi claimed to have one shaped like a rabbit, and her mobile unit was not humanoid. But he had never actually seen a full-size persocom that was so far out of the ordinary. Whatever he had been expecting, the siren and human soda fountain were not it. Now that he took a closer look around, he started noticing how strange the crowd was. A persocom two tables over had silvery, skeletal legs. What he had at first thought was a man with a hand puppet turned out to be another persocom, his left hand replaced with the head, arms, and torso of a laptop unit. Another had a metal plate grafted over one side of its face, some sort of scanning device in place of their left eye. Hideki wondered what else he might see, if he stayed there long enough.

Minoru tried to repress a smile. "Like I said, Club Mercer is a strange place."

Finally finding his voice, Hideki returned to business. "So who is this man that we're meeting?"

"Undertaker is a persocom parts dealer," Minoru explained. "He does some honest salvage, But he's also known to traffic in stolen 'coms and components. I think Kojima's bought some things from him, but most people on the forums consider him permanently blacklisted."

"Master, are you sure it's alright to deal with this man," Yuzuki asked, "After everything you've told me about him, it might be better to find someone else."

"It's not my first choice," the young man admitted. "I'd just as soon not deal with anyone like him. But we need an access point for the underground market, and I trust Undertaker more than I do anyone else."

"What should I do?" Hideki asked.

Minoru took a long drink of his cola. "Sit and watch. Having a second person here will make him less likely to try anything too illegal."

Hideki looked up as a person approached their table. There was something immediately unpleasant about the man: gangling, with greasy hair and an unwashed shirt. He pulled up a vacant chair and lounged back in it.

"Well well," the man began. "The mysterious M in person."

Minoru inclined his head slightly. "Undertaker."

The man, Undertaker, barely glanced at Hideki, turning to Yuzuki quickly. He studied her with the scrutiny a collector would give to a rare antique. His next comment was addressed to Minoru. "This must be your 'com I've read so much about."

"My name is Yuzuki," the persocom interjected with a carefully measured tone. "Pleased to meet you as well, sir."

"Intelligent enough to be sarcastic," the man commented, obviously impressed. "You'll have to show me its learning software at some point."

"I'm not here to talk shop," Minoru replied, "I'm here to talk business."

Undertaker sighed. "Right, right. I'm a little surprised to hear from you, honestly. I thought you didn't approve of my profession."

The younger man remained impassive. "I'm in the market for some things I can't buy through normal channels."

Undertaker raised his eyebrows. "Oh? What did you have in mind?"

Minoru folded his arms. "That depends. Found anything unusual lately?"

"Matter of fact, I've recently come across something _very_ interesting. Custom 'com unlike anything I've ever seen. You're not going to believe me, but someone buried her. Like, in a coffin in a cemetery and everything."

Minoru seemed to show a mild interest. "What sort persocom?"

"See for yourself." The man pushed a photograph across to him. Hideki's eyes widened as he saw what looked like Chi, her skin coated with dust, lying on a steel tray. It took a moment for the shock to wear off and realize what it actually showed.

"That's—" Hideki was abruptly cut off by Minoru stepping on his foot.

"Quite an interesting find," Minoru said, "How much do you want for it?

Undertaker stroked his chin thoughtfully. "She has some pretty outstanding custom components. Let's say twenty."

Minoru scowled. "twenty? I wouldn't pay two for something that's been buried in the ground."

"The coffin and her covering sealed out most of the moisture," Undertaker replied, "so there's almost no corrosion. Tell you what, I'll give you a deal. Lower the price to fifteen."

Minoru shook his head. "I'll bet half of everything's fried anyway. How about eight?

"Even if it is, this isn't just your off-the-shelf hardware we're talking about. I'll do twelve.

"You expect to sell me a broken 'com for twelve? It'll take at least that to get her up and running again. Do much business ripping people off?"

The man sighed. "You drive a hard bargain. ten is my final offer."

"Done. When can we pick her up?"

"As soon as you send payment." The man handed him a card. "Here's my info."

Minoru turned to his Persocom. "Yuzuki."

Yuzuki's eyes glazed over for a moment as she processed data. After a moment, she said. "Payment authorized."

Hideki tried to keep his voice calm. "How soon can we pick her up?"

"Give me about an hour to get everything arranged," Undertaker said, "ring the bell any time after that." He turned back to Minoru. "Is that all?"

"As a matter of fact," the young man replied, "I'm in the market for something else. Something you can't buy on the open market. Something corporate."

The broker tented his fingers and leaned forward, curious. "Oh? What sort of corporate? Research? Financial? _Military_?"

"Yanaha Cybernetics," Minoru replied. "Hardware or software. If you come across anything from them, I'd be interested. _That_ I would pay _top_ price for."

For just an instant, a strange expression passed across the man's face. Hideki could not be sure what it was. Surprise? Recognition? Amusement? He could not tell, and it only lasted a second.

"I'll see what I can do," Undertaker finally replied. "I need to head back and get the place cleaned up. In the meantime, enjoy the show, I guess."

As soon as Undertaker was out of sight, Hideki shot Minoru a look of suspicion. "Did you plan this?"

Minoru shook his head, his previous poker face dissolving into a look of shock. "I had no idea, I swear."

"You sure about that? This feels like a sick joke."

Yuzuki spoke. "If it is, the joke is on all of us."

Calandra returned. Before she could say anything, Hideki ordered, "I'd like a shot of something strong, please." She moved off wordlessly, returning a few moments later with a shot glass. Hideki tossed it back, barely registering the oaky taste of whiskey. "Freya…"

Minoru gave a nervous chuckle. "That was unexpected to say the least, although I suppose if anyone would find something like that, it would be Undertaker."

"If I may ask," Yuzuki spoke up again, "what do you plan to do with her? It doesn't seem right to keep her, after the respect her master buried her with."

"I don't know yet," Minoru admitted. "But it's better for her to be in our hands rather than Undertaker's. Knowing him, she'd probably end up on a hardware destruction stream."

Yuzuki placed a hand to her mouth, and a nod passed between them.

Hideki changed the subject. "What were you bartering with? It just sounded like you were just quoting numbers to each other."

"Bit-coins. It's the only thing these people deal in." he frowned, shooting a sidelong glance to Hideki. "At least we now know what Chi's street value is."

"How is that?"

"Because," Minoru replied, "I just bought her sister for one million yen."

Yuzuki called for the limo an hour later. Undertaker's address turned out to be an old morgue, only a short drive from the club. The parts dealer met them at the door, an unpleasant smile on his face.

"Welcome to the charnel house! Come on in."

A narrow hall led down into the basement. The décor had a macabre touch all its own; Persocom arms had been turned into wall sconces, bare lightbulbs emerging from the palms of their hands. A line of Persocom heads was arranged on a table, their eyes blank and glassy, more like disused dolls than living creatures. The temperature dropped with each step, becoming almost freezing by the time they entered the basement proper. Hideki had never been in a morgue before, but he recognized it from films he had seen. The far wall was covered with drawers, each one labeled with a number and name tag. This space had been kept spotless; apparently the parts dealer took more care with his workspace than his own appearance.

Undertaker approached the array of drawers, running his finger along the numbers. Choosing one close to the bottom, he slid it out to reveal a persocom with a very familiar appearance. She was almost identical to Chi in every way; the same hair, the same face, the same build. The dress she wore was an exact copy of one Chi wore regularly.

Hideki shuddered. It felt uncannily like he was looking at Chi's corpse. Not corpse, he had to remind himself, she was a persocom: She could not die, merely stop functioning. But even if he knew that consciously, his mind was still revolted from seeing her cold and still, laid out in such a clinical space.

Minoru leaned over to examine her closely. "how much have you examined her?"

"Internal preliminaries," Undertaker replied, "Just enough to check manufactures and build. Like I said, some really impressive custom components in her core. No manufacturing stamp, but they're too clean and too complex to be homemade PCBs." He shrugged. "Her peripherals are a real mess, though; weird microcontrollers pulled out of other things. Most of them were manufactured by _Piffle Princess_ of all companies. Can you believe it, toy components in a super powerful custom persocom!"

"And you say you've never seen anything like her?" Minoru asked.

Undertaker sighed and shrugged. "Nothing _exactly_ like it, no."

Minoru was quicker to pick up on the man's inflection than Hideki. "You've seen something similar though?"

"It's probably nothing," Undertaker denied, "Nothing that I can pin down, at least. It's more a 'music between the notes' sort of thing; a certain logic and artistry to how it's put together."

"And you've seen that somewhere before?" Hideki pressed. "Where?"

"In my sister's old Angelic Layer doll." Undertaker laughed "And, funnily enough, in leaked schematics I saw from Yanaha. Vocaloids."

"Now that _is_ strange," Minoru replied.

Undertaker shrugged again. "Like I said, probably just a coincidence"

Something out of the corner of his eye caught Hideki's attention. Another drawer some distance down was open a crack. Curious, he moved toward it. Undertaker rushed past him and slammed it closed. "That's a personal project, and not for sale."

"What sort of project?" Hideki asked.

"None of your business," Undertaker replied.

"In any case," Minoru interjected, "We have what we came for. Hideki, if you could help me get her to the car."

Now it was Hideki's turn to sigh. "She's going to be really heavy, isn't she?"


	7. Track 7: Tell Your World

Hey everyone, I hope you have been enjoying this story so far. Please review and let me know what you think; so far it's only been Thanos and Dragonfly. Thanks!

* * *

Track 7:Tell Your World

By the next morning, Hideki had mostly recovered from the shock. He still could not believe the night before had really happened. The club, the morgue, Chi's sister, they merged together into a dreamlike blur.

Freya had proved to be just as heavy as Chi had been; it had taken all of his strength to help lug her from Undertaker's basement to the car, then from the car into an upstairs bedroom in Minoru's house. Seeing her laid out on the bed had helped calm him a little; she looked more like she was asleep than dead. Neither Minoru nor Yuzuki had said much more after that, and Hideki had not yolf else about the discovery.

The train took far longer to reach Yanaha Cybernetis than Minoru's limousine had. By the time Hideki stepped into the lobby, he had been traveling for over an hour. Returning home would take just as long, and he was not looking forward to it. Luckily he had prepared for a late night; Chi was working that day, and Ms. Hibiya had agreed to walk her home. Sumomo was in sleep mode in his bag, just in case he needed to call or use the internet.

He showed the persocom behind the desk his pass. "I'm here to head up to the lab."

The persocom nodded. "Of course, sir.

When he reached the right level, he realized he had no idea how to open the door. Clearly he needed to do something, but what that was, he had no idea. He leaned down close to the sensor. There was no slot for him to swipe it. In any case, Miku had just tapped her wrist on the light. Maybe if he tapped the card against it? He was rewarded with a beep as soon as the card touched the sensor.

Hideki had access to the floor, but was not exactly sure what he was planning to do. Most people would have scoffed at the very idea. He needed to find out what the Vocaloids' daily lives were like, but did not know if just watching them would be enough. His experiences were with how single persocoms interacted with single humans in a home setting. But this was a far more complex situation, with dozens of Vocaloids interacting with one another, hundreds of Yanaha employees and thousands of fans. What he needed was a guide, someone he could talk to, and who could answer his questions. Or at the very least, someone that could point him in the right direction.

"Hey there, Mr. detective man."

Hideki spun around, trying to figure out who spoke. The hallway was empty as far as he could see.

The voice came again. "I'm over here, on the shelf."

He looked to his right. A persocom the size of Sumomo sat on a recessed shelf, swinging his legs over the edge. Dressed in shamrock green, with matching hair and eyes, he looked like some sort of leprechaun.

"Hello," Hideki said, "who are you?"

"Ryuto's the name. I saw you when you visited before, but you didn't see me!" He held out a tiny hand. "nice to meetcha!"

Hideki took the offered hand awkwardly between his thumb and index finger and shook. "So, are you a Vocaloid too?" He asked doubtfully.

"You got that right! A full popstar in two pounds or less. Pretty cool, huh?"

"What are you doing here on the shelf?" Hideki asked.

A voice called from down the hall. "There you are!" The sudden shout made Hideki turn. Standing in the nearest intersection was a familiar Vocaloid in a creamsicle-colored outfit. It was Gumi, holding a comb in one hand and looking absolutely furious. A section of her green hair was streaked with black.

"Whoops, gotta go!" Ryuto exclaimed. He jumped off of the shelf.

He tried to bound away, but Gumi was too fast. She rushed past Hideki and caught the miniature Vocaloid by the back of his collar.

Gumi shook Ryuto and pointed to her dark-streaked hair. "What's the meaning of this?"

Ryuto did his best to swing out of her grasp, but it was no use. "Oh come on, it was just a prank!"

"You think it's funny to put ink on someone's comb? Do you know how long it'll take to get this out?"

"It's washable ink," Ryuto replied with a shrug. "Should come right off."

The miniature Vocaloid's head flew from side to side as Gumi shook him harder. "That's not the point!" Gumi seemed to finally notice Hideki standing there. "He hasn't caused any trouble for you, has he?"

"Not at all," Hideki replied.

"That's good. Can I help you with anything?" There it was again: that almost predatory look.

In an instant, he made up his mind. "I'm looking for Miku."

Disappointment momentarily flashed through her eyes. "I see. She just got back from a photoshoot." The creamsicle vocaloid smirked. "Should be in her room, if you want to go see her. Take a left at the next hall, then go all the way down."

"Thanks!" Hideki replied.

Gumi's grin became sadistic as she turned back to Ryuto, holding up the comb. "Looks like I'll have to teach you the consequences of your actions!"

For the first time, Hideki paid attention to the nameplates on the doors. He recognized a few of the names now: Gumi, Kaito, Luka, Rin and Len…but there were too many to count. The one he was looking for was so different he almost passed it by. Set apart from the others, he thought it was a second lab until he noticed the plaque. A large gold star enclosed the four kanji that made up her name.

"Hatsune Miku"

The door was ajar. Without thinking, Hideki pushed it open, figuring if she was not there yet then he could at least wait. It took him two steps to realize the mistake he had just made. He immediately froze.

Miku was in the room alright. She had a pair of jeans slid halfway down her legs, leaving her in nothing but undergarments. He thought he caught the faintest hint of downy teal hairs peeking out above the cotton stripes of her panties. Blush simulators worked overtime as the idol's face turned bright red.

"S-Sorry, the door was open!" Hideki stammered.

Miku covered herself as best she could. "Waah! Get out of my room!"

He quickly retreated to the hall, collapsing back against the wall. Judging from the heat in his cheeks, he was blushing almost as intensely as the robotic idol. He needed to be more careful around Miku, make sure that he did not see anything again. This was starting to become a trend.

After a few minutes, Miku poked her head out, still blushing furiously. "Okay, I'm decent now. Come on in."

He followed her in, sitting down on the edge of the bed where Miku gestured.

Hideki took a moment to examine the room. The furnishing was very similar to the lab: recessed panel lights, brushed steel and molded plastic. Glowing lines adorned much of the furniture, giving a science fiction or rave aesthetic. But unlike the lab it had been decorated, giving it a homier, more personal feel.

The bed he sat on was covered in white and teal cotton sheets, and was remarkably soft. Posters covered the entirety of the wall above it, most of them depicting persocoms, male models, and other musicians. To one side was a desk, pens and papers scattered across its surface. A framed photo sat to one side, depicting the Vocaloids lined up as if for a school picture. On top of everything was a gray-covered diary and a teal pen. Beside the desk was a bookshelf filled to bursting with manga, save for one shelf devoted to cutesy plastic figures. At the far end of the room was a walk-in closet, filled to the brim with outfits of every conceivable type in every conceivable color.

On the surface, it was exactly what he would expect if Miku was a human. Underneath everything, however, was an artificial feeling to the arrangement of the room. It seemed almost _too much_ the room of a teenage girl, every element carefully crafted to appear natural but without any reality to it.

His companion perched herself on the edge of the desk. "So, what did you come here for? I don't really know any more about Lola than I already told you."

He shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I just came to talk."

The Vocaloid raised an eyebrow. "just to talk?"

"I'm curious," he explained. "How do you live? What do you do when you don't have a concert or photoshoot, or do you not have any free time?"

Miku shrugged. "You could always pick up one of our magazines. We give interviews all the time."

"No, I mean how you _really_ live," Hideki replied. "What it's like for you day to day."

The Vocaloid raised her eyebrows. "You want to know what?"

"Well," Hideki elaborated, "you don't just go from one thing to another, do you?"

"Our schedules are always super full." she admitted. "Except for when something goes wrong, like with Lola's theft, we don't get more than a few hours off. First thing in the morning we're in the recording booths. When we tour we'll have a concert every single day, sometimes two. On top of that we have photo shoots, interviews, meet and greets, shooting commercials for endorsements, signing autographs, and posting updates. It's a relief when you humans go home, because it means we'll have some time to ourselves or to be in sleep mode."

Hideki felt dizzy just hearing her. He had thought his schedule was packed during college, but it was nothing compared to what she had to go through. He supposed he should have expected it; record companies would do the same with humans if they could get away with it. But it still seemed like slavery to him.

"What do you do with those few hours off?" he asked, "do you just go into sleep mode?"

"Sometimes I write in my diary, sometimes Gumi drags me along on an adventure, sometimes I just go online and surf around."

"And you never thought about doing anything else? Maybe finding a way to escape from it all?"

"Are you kidding? This is what I was made for, it's my purpose in life. So many people would love to have this sort of fame, why would I give it up?"

 _One of them had found a compelling reason to leave it all behind_ , Hideki thought. _And to make sure that she would not be found_.

Miku suddenly rose from her seat and crossed to him. With a boldness that shocked Hideki, she grabbed ahold of his arm. "Are you up for a walk?"

"I suppose so," Hideki replied, "Where are we going?"

"I'll show you my world."

Hideki had never been anywhere in the building besides the lobby, president's office and lab level. Miku took him on a tour through floor after floor. The recording booths were almost completely full, only one or two on the end were unoccupied. The one she led him to was cramped and stuffy, with no airflow at all. Hideki could not imagine spending fifteen minutes in there, let alone hours at a time. After the recording booths came the artists' studios and planning offices. Dozens of business persocoms passed by, giving them no more than a nod before continuing on their errands.

Finally, they reached the lobby again, where Miku led him to the back of the building. The rear exit let out into a rather large office park, a crafted garden in its center. A purple-haired male Vocaloid was seated beneath a tree, an inkbrush and paper in hand. Hideki recognized him before.

Miku spoke up as they approached. "Hey Gack, what are you doing here?"

He rose, brushing grass from the edge of his kimono. "Seeking inspiration," he replied, showing them the paper. Hideki saw the beginning of a haiku, its characters drawn in a graceful cursive.

"You write poetry," Hideki commented.

"I was programmed with the rules and meter," he replied, "Of course, I am but a novice compared to true masters of the craft."

Miku gestured to Hideki. "This is Hedeki Motosuwa. I'm showing him around

"Ah yes, the gentleman who came to ask about Lola." The purple-haired Vocaloid bowed deeply. "Kamui Gackupo. It is a pleasure to properly make your acquaintance." He had a certain grace and respect, putting Hideki in mind of the heroes from classic samurai movies.

Hideki returned the bow. "Thank you."

"I regret to say I can be of little use to your investigation," he replied. "I wish you best of luck, though, and will help however I can."

Hideki laughed. "Today I'm investigating all of you, actually," Hideki replied, "Learning how you really live."

"Have you found anything interesting so far?"

"Your schedules are a little full," he commented, "maybe too full?"

Gack nodded. "I know we might seem overworked, or that we have little freedom. Do not be fooled, though; this our way of life, and we would not trade it for anything."

He spoke with such conviction that Hideki did not want to argue. "Sorry for disturbing you," he replied, "I hope your poetry goes well."

He and Miku walked off, toward the other end of the garden. Was it his imagination, or was she walking a little closer to him?

"So do you write any of your own songs?" Hideki asked, "or are they all written for you?"

"Oh, they're all programmed into us," she replied. "Most come from in-house composers, but our fans can also submit their own songs." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you don't know about it, it's a big draw for some people."

"I've been caught up in cram school and college for the last four years of my life," he explained apologetically, "Before that I was a country boy. I didn't really know much about Vocaloids or Yanaha Cybernetics before I started investigating for them. I haven't even been to a concert yet."

Miku's eyebrows flew upward. "Really, you've never seen one of our concerts?" she sounded incredulous.

Hideki shrugged. "My friends and I talked about going to one soon, but we haven't had time yet."

"Let me know what day you and your friends want to go." She replied, "I'll get you VIP passes!"

At that moment, Sumomo popped her head out of Hideki's bag. "Ring, ring, ring! Phone call! Phone call!"

Hideki pulled her fully out, letting her sit on his palms. "Hello?"

Sumomo's eyes unfocused as she connected the call. "Mr. Motosuwa?" Dr. Suzuhara's voice emerged from the laptop persocom's mouth.

"That's me."

"Where are you right now?" Dr. Suzuhara asked.

"I'm at Yanaha Cybernetics with Miku. Why, is something wrong?"

She sighed. "I hate to drop this on you, but I need another favor. One of the Vocaloids disappeared after her interview today. I'm a little busy in lab at the moment, and need someone to go find her."

Hideki's head swam. "You mean _another_ Vocaloid has gone missing?"

"Not exactly," the doctor replied, "Flower does this at least once a month. We made her to be a rebel, and she runs away for nights on the town. Usually she's back after a few hours, but with the whole Lola situation I'd rather be sure she gets back alright."

Hideki considered for a moment. A rebellious Vocaloid. Of course, he would have agreed regardless, but he had additional reasons for wanting to go. So far, the ones he had spoken with seemed to love their overworked lives. This might be his chance to get a different answer, to find a reason someone like that would run away.

"Okay, I'll do it. How do I find her."

"She has a GPS tracker in her for when these things happen," the doctor replied. "I'll send your persocom her tracking information; you should be able to place her within a few meters."

"Got it."

The doctor's voice was pleading. "Please bring her back alright."

Sumomo's eyes refocused as the line went dead. In her own overly-cheerful voice, she announced, "Call ended!"

"Very good Sumomo." Hideki turned to Miku. "Sorry, It looks like our tour is going to be cut short."

Miku smiled, but there was a twinge of disappointment in her eyes. "It's ok. You'll drop by again at some point, right? We can talk more then."

Hideki nodded. "Definitely."


	8. Track 8: Mind Brand

Track 8: Mind Brand

Hideki carried Sumomo in his hands as he rode the train. He tried his best to keep still, but could not help tapping his foot. It had already been well over two hours since Dr. Suzuhara called him, and the sun was going down. Every second it took for him to reach his destination was a second too long.

He had checked more than a dozen times already, but he had to check again. "How far is she?" he asked Sumomo.

"1.5 kilometers," the miniature persocom replied.

Hideki settled back into his seat, trying to keep his patience. One more stop, maybe two, and he would be within walking distance. He tried to remain patient. There was very little he could do.

Dr. Suzuhara had sent him a picture along with the tracking data, so that he could visually identify her. He examined the publicity photo on the portable monitor Sumomo usually traveled with. Details leapt out: Violet eyes, short-cropped white hair with black streaks, face which could have been male or female just as easily. She was dressed in a sleeveless vest, corset, and a skirt which belled outward. Hideki could easily see her onstage, headlining a punk or gothic metal band.

Miku, Rin and Len, Gumi, Kaito, and now Ryuto and Gack. Seven Vocaloids, seven different personalities. Yet all of them seemed perfectly comfortable with being singers. They seemed to enjoy their lives, as busy as their schedule was. Hideki wondered what this 'Flower' would be like; how different would she be from the others?

Before he knew it, the train was slowing down. He glanced to his persocom once again. "How far now?"

"535 Meters!" Sumomo replied.

Picking up his bag, he rushed off of the train and out of the station. It took him a moment to get his bearings. He had never been to this part of Tokyo before, and was not sure how to get around. The street was a mass of neon signs, pavilions, and restaurant fronts. Following Sumomo's directions led him to a nightclub, one of the many in the district. He approached the man guarding the doors.

Hideki fished Sumomo's screen from his bag and showed the picture to the bouncer. "Excuse me, have you seen this persocom?"

The man studied the picture skeptically. "Yeah, I've seen Flower. What do you want with her?"

"I'm from Yanaha," Hideki explained, "I've been sent to bring her back."

"Sure you have," the bouncer replied, "You don't look like any kind of corporate security I've seen."

Hideki grimaced. He really needed to buy some nicer clothes. Minoru's words floated back to him, about how looking rich opened a number of doors. "Can you please tell me when you saw her last, or let me inside?"

The man crossed his arms. "Sorry man, I'm not letting some obsessed fan in just to stalk a persocom."

For a moment, he considered showing the bouncer his Yanaha guest pass, but decided against it. He doubted it would change the man's mind. That was that, then. If they wouldn't let him in, he would just have to wait until she left. He wondered If there was a coffee shop still open, where he could watch the entrance.

"Target moving!" Sumomo shouted, "Eight meters…seven…nine."

"Which way do I go," he asked her.

The persocom pointed with her tiny hand toward a back alleyway. "There!"

Hideki immediately rushed toward the alleyway, without another glance toward the bouncer. It was only a few paces to the edge of the building. He heard raised voices as he rounded the corner and saw a small drama unfolding in front of him.

Two men stood a few meters apart from one another, shouting at the top of their lungs. Flower stood to one side, arms crossed. Her face seemed set in a permanent cold glare.

"You stay away from her," the first man one shouted, "you hear me?"

"Calm down," the other man retorted, "She's just a persocom. It's not like she's a real girl or anything. No sense getting jealous."

"Either way she's mine," the first snapped back. "Don't you touch her!"

The Vocaloid stepped between the arguing men. "There's no need for you two to fight."

The first man rounded on her. "You stay out of this, persocom."

"This is pointless," She complained. "Neither of you was that memorable, honestly."

The man struck her across the face so hard that she lost her balance. "Is your voice command software malfunctioning? I said shut the hell up!" he rounded on his opponent. "Seriously, you stay away!"

Without warning, the Vocaloid on the floor lashed out, wrapping her legs around the man's ankles and sweeping them out from under him. He was caught completely off-guard, falling heavily against the pavement. A blink of an eye later and Flower was in a crouch. Her fists were raised ready by the sides of her face; protective but ready to strike. Clearly she was no stranger to street fighting.

The man scrambled back to his feet, rubbing his jaw. "Bitch!"

Hideki rushed over. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

The nearer of the two men turned to glare at him. "this doesn't have anything to do with you."

Hideki managed to slip between the man and Vocaloid. "If you want to hurt her, you'll have to go through me." Hideki tried to look determined, but internally he was trembling. He had no desire to fight, but the man was furious, and that made him liable to do anything.

"What's she to you?" The man leered, "Did you _use her_ too?"

He held his ground. "I don't know what you're talking about. but I'm not about to let you do anything."

Finally, after far too long of a moment, the man shrugged. "Fine, have her if you want her." He spit in Flower's general direction, then turned on his heels.

The two men left from opposite ends of the alley. After a few moments, Hideki, Sumomo, and Flower were alone. Hideki let out a long sigh of relief, resting his hands on his knees.

Sumomo sat on his shoulder. "Yay! Good job master!"

The rest of her innane congratulations went unheard as Hideki tried to recover his bearings. This had been more excitement than he had wanted that night. A few paces away, the Vocaloid lowered her guard. She felt her jaw, which was now ever so slightly crooked.

Finally returning to his senses, Hideki helped her up. "You're Flower, right?"

She nodded.

"I'm going to call a taxi for you," he told her. He had no idea how he was going to pay for it;

Her violet eyes focused on him. "Are you the poor bastard they roped into dragging me back?" the voice was monotone, slightly quavering. Deep for a girl, but high for a boy. The word _kuudere_ leapt to mind.

Hideki nodded. "Dr. Suzuhara sent me. She wants you back safe."

Flower sighed. "Of course she does, and you won't leave until I agree to come back with you."

"That's right."

The taxi arrived in record time, pulling up in front of the club mere minutes after he placed the call. Hideki sent a message to Dr. Suzuhara while they were waiting, letting her know they were on the way. Hideki had never been in a taxi before; as a student, he could never afford one. It was comfortable enough, but he could not enjoy the ride. He was too aware that the turning of the meter represented his money slowly dribbling away.

Flower sat on the complete opposite end of the cab, leaning toward the window. Hideki fidgeted, not sure how to fill the silence. Sumomo was in screensaver mode, silently dancing on the seat between them. Somehow this made the situation even more awkward.

He risked a sidelong glance across to his companion. Hideki could see why they had named her Flower. She was thin and delicate, as if the slightest breeze would blow her away. But he remembered how she had swept the legs of the man in the club. She could still defend herself if she needed to. Delicate, yet tough.

Hideki was the one that finally spoke. "So what was that about?"

Flower shrugged. "Just a disagreement, I slept with both of them and, apparently, they didn't take kindly to that. You humans are so irrational." It was said so matter-of-fact that he was taken aback.

Hideki asked the question that had been on his mind all evening. "Is that why you ran away?"

"Sort of. I wanted a bit of fun, and it was a convenient time for me to cause another scandal."

Hideki blinked. "Convenient?"

"It's all mandated by the corporation. They wanted someone with a rebellious personality; someone that would court controversy and give the news shocking stories. So they made me, and programmed me to get a thrill from it."

"Is this how you want to live then?"

Flower glared across the cab. "We all have the things we do," she snapped, "Miku does her cutesy 'dream girlfriend' shit, Rin and Len have their asinine twin act, I fuck strangers in club bathrooms. If you want to call me a whore because of it then fine, I'm a whore. You people made me to be that way."

"I didn't mean it like that," Hideki backpedaled. "I know you're just following your programming. But have you ever thought about having it changed? You could become any kind of person you wanted."

The Vocaloid met his gaze for the first time since entering the taxi. She looked confused. "Why would I want to do that?"

Hideki shrugged. Silence fell between them.

Flower touched her throat, feeling almost imperceptible indents. "That asshole, I told him to choke me harder, not crush my neck. It'll take mother hours to fix this."

Hideki surreptitiously crossed his legs.

Five minutes later the taxi pulled up in front of the Yanaha building. Still not sure how he was going to pay for the ride, Hideki reached for his wallet.

Flower waved him down. "Put that away, you don't need to be a gentleman for a persocom. Especially one like me."

"You don't have a wallet or a credit card," Hideki pointed out, "How are you going to pay?"

The Vocaloid rolled her eyes. She extended her arm to the driver and tapped her wrist to the credit card reader. After a moment, it beeped. "I'm a machine, of _course_ I have a payment chip embedded in me. Everything is charged to the Vocaloid promotional account."

"That's pretty neat," Hideki replied.

Flower simply shrugged.

Dr. Suzuhara met them in the lobby. It was late, and the receptionist persocom was the only remaining onlooker. The doctor rushed forward immediately, obvious relief on her face.

She placed a finger against Flower's jaw. "You had a scuffle again, didn't you?" The crookedness was so slight that most people might have missed it, barely a few millimeters, but the doctor had noticed it immediately.

"Not really," Flower replied, "it's just my jaw and neck. Your loyal dog there stepped in before it got interesting."

"Well, you're going right up to the lab," she commanded. "You can't do an interview tomorrow if you're like this." She turned to Hideki. "I'm sorry I kept you late, Mr. Motosuwa. I'll have a company car drive you home."

"It's no trouble," Hideki replied. He really should be getting back. He was alredy later than he had anticipated, and He did not want to make Chi wait. Still, he had not answered all of his questions, and he had not interviewed Dr. Suzuhara yet. "Actually, do you mind if I join you for a bit," he added, "I still have a question or two."

They met no one on their trip up to the lab. When they arrived, Flower lay down on one of the lab tables, immediately deactivating herself. Dr. Suzuhara removed a flap of artificial skin from Flower's neck and chin, revealing the mechanisms underneath. Seeing the bare servos and artificial muscles made Hideki shudder. This was not some persocom he had never known; he had watched her go from talking person one moment to cold machinery the next. It was like seeing through an illusion which existed only for his benefit. Even the doctor seemed a little agitated, though she still continued.

"Sorry if I'm causing you trouble," Hideki said.

"It's just a simple fix," the doctor replied, shining her penlight into the depths of Flower's neck. "I've done this dozens of times. Really, I'm surprised you brought her back with as little damage as this." She loosened a pair of screws on the vocaloid's jaw.

"She gets into fights often then?"

The doctor sighed. "About every time that she does this. I programmed her with all I could remember about one-on-one combat, but it's usually not enough."

"You know how to fight?" He could not imagine the refined doctor doing any sort of martial arts.

"I was a three-time Angelic Layer national champion," she replied, "Of course it's not exactly the same, but many of the same principles apply."

"I see." Hideki's eyes rested on the sheet in the corner, the one covering Lola. "How long have you been making Persocoms?" he asked.

Dr. Suzuhara did not even look up from her work, loosening a few more screws. "Almost as long as they've existed. and before that, I worked with other electronics. Ah, there we go." With an audible click, Flower's jaw slid back into place. "her mandible just needed to be re-seated. Now for the neck injury."

Hideki continued as the doctor picked up a clamp and forceps. "In all that time, have you ever known a persocom to act outside of its programming?"

Dr. Suzuhara set the clamp in place. "That's an odd sort of question to ask. I guess that really depends on what you mean 'outside' of their programming. I've seen persocoms I've made act in ways I never expected them to, certainly."

With a slight pop, a segment of Flower's trachea came loose. Dr. Suzuhara held it up to the light. The object was ever so slightly cracked. "Part T-002," she muttered to herself. The doctor fished through one of the many boxes in the room, finally pulling out an identical part.

She continued, "I'd say that I've never seen a persocom that acted wildly _out of character_. No matter how much they learn or their programming is expanded, they don't just suddenly change out of nowhere. Whatever new personality traits they have, there's always a reason for it."

Now came the big question. "Can you think of any reason a Vocaloid would run away? Really run away, I mean."

Another pop set the replacement segment into its proper place. Removing the clamp, she began to re-tighten screws. "Does this have to do with Lola?"

Hideki nodded. "I figured out pretty much right away that this wasn't a theft. Why else would I be on the case?"

"I had hoped that it really was one, honestly," she admitted, "It would have made things easier."

What I still can't figure out is why, though," Hideki said. "Talking with the Vocaloids today, despite everything they seemed happy. Even Flower said she wouldn't change herself if she had the choice. But if that's the case, why did Lola run away? And why now rather than a few years ago?"

Dr. Suzuhara picked up a tool whose use Hideki could only guess. She shrugged. "I can't imagine why she would do that. The last time she spoke she seemed happy enough, and was even looking forward to the next tour. I suppose it is possible, though. We all make mistakes." A sad look entered the doctor's eyes. "Sometimes even with how we raise our own children."

She moved the flap of skin back into place. Under the tool and the doctor's guidance, the flap meshed perfectly with its surroundings. Another two minutes, and there was no evidence her neck had ever been opened.

The doctor seemed to visibly relax as she set down her tools. "That's everything. I'll have to give her a diagnostic tomorrow, make sure nothing else was damaged by physical shock, but not tonight." Dr. Suzuhara pressed a button hidden behind Flower's ear. Hideki heard the electric whine of the Vocaloid starting up.

Hideki checked his watch. "I should get going."

"I'll call down for a company car," she replied, "Should get you home faster than the train."

He nodded, too tired to protest. "Thank you for everything."

"It's no trouble at all. Just bring my daughter home safely."

Hideki was at the door when someone called out to him. "Motosuwa?" It was Flower's voice. He turned back to the table. He could see the barest hint of a smile on Flower's face. "Thanks for seeing me back."


	9. Track 9: Your Highness My Princess

Track 9: Your Highness My Princess

A school of what looked like large fish swam in a giant pool of mineral oil. Their movements made it difficult to pick out individuals, or even their shape. As one of them swam close to the glass, the camera was able to focus on it, revealing a bizarre form of persocom.

Judging by its surroundings, the persocom was roughly two feet long. Its body was that of a mackerel, its skin a silvery-blue. The head, however, was that of a girl, including shoulder-length purple hair. Across its head, in a shape resembling a tiara, was an Ethernet hub with a dozen ports. Human arms and legs stuck out from the appropriate places, giving the impression of a girl in a fish suit, or some bizarre form of mermaid.

A voiceover said, "the day of cabinets full of blade servers is over, most replaced by self-contained persocoms. But some applications still need mass farms of machines pooling their processing power and generating enormous amounts of heat. So we come to the modern day: schools of 'mackerel' servers, swimming in aquariums of cooling oil, their silvery skin a thermally conductive polymer.

"From rooms of humans adding up numbers by hand to schools of mackerel persocoms, supercomputing has come a long way. No one can predict what the next great innovation will be, but one thing is certain: 'Big Iron' will live on in some form."

Credits scrolled along the TV screen, over an image of old-style cabinet computers. An different voice said, "This has been 'Big Iron: the history of supercomputing.' Next up, how a toy company redefined our relationship with computers, with 'Angels to Persocoms.' The time is 7:00 PM."

Hideki reached for the remote and began to flip through channels, trying to find something interesting to watch. His stack of work was far smaller than it had been since high school. It had not vanished entirely; his professors still expected him to keep up to date. But it was small enough that he was willing to risk an hour or two away from it.

Chi lay on the floor beside him, swinging her feet as she read a picture book. Dressed in a blue and white sailor uniform, her hair fanning out behind her, she was the very image of a schoolgirl just back from class. She seemed so happy, so alive.

The image of Freya in Undertaker's morgue had still not completely faded from his mind. Hideki shuddered. He felt impure for helping Minoru buy her. Her "parents" had buried her with the respect they would give to a human, then someone else had come along and dug her up again. And because she had been a persocom, there would not be any consequences for him.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Motosuwa," Kotoko asked. She had been so silent perched on the edge of a shelf that Hideki had forgotten she was even there.

"What do you mean?" he responded.

"You seemed preoccupied with something," the dark-haired persocom observed, "You've been away until very late two nights in a row. Are you working on something?"

"Um…er…" Hideki stammered. Even after living with her for three years, he had to remember that Kotoko was not really his. Kojima was still her owner, and she would message him if she found anything interesting. He would have to watch what he said around her. "I'm not allowed to talk about it," he finally replied. "Non-disclosure agreement and all."

He went back to flipping through channels. News, game shows, soap operas and numerous anime flashed by.

Chi shifted closer to cuddle next to Hideki. As he put his arm around her, she looked up from her picture book. "Chi's payday is tomorrow."

"That's excellent! What do you want to spend your money on?"

"Some things for cookies and cakes," she replied. "Manager and Ms. Yumi are teaching me how to bake. Chi wants to make you something special!"

"That would be nice, but we don't have an oven here," Hideki pointed out. The apartment was barely more than a main room and a bathroom, with no space for more than a small stove and a microwave. Any sort of real baking was completely out of the question.

Chi's smile fell. "Oh. Then I guess I can't."

"Hey, don't worry," Hideki comforted her, "If you want to, we can figure something out. Maybe If you ask manager Ueda he could help you. Or maybe Ms. Hibiya would let you use her oven."

This did seem to cheer her up a little. "That would be nice."

A flash of teal hair caught Hideki's attention as the TV changed to a view of a stage. Sure enough, it was Miku, in a concert. Even filtered through the TV broadcast, Miku's voice was amazing. The Utauloid from the club was nothing compared to her. Still not exactly human, but far purer, and cuter in its own way. He could see exactly why she had become popular: looks, personality, voice, Miku had everything a fan could want.

"What's this?" Chi asked.

"It's a Vocaloid concert," he replied. "The person singing is a persocom like you."

Closing her picture book, Chi inched closer to the screen with interest. her eyes went wide when she saw the teal-haired Vocaloid.

"She's really pretty," Chi commented.

"That's Hatsune Miku," Hideki replied, "She's the most popular."

"Mi-ku," Chi sounded out thoughtful. She lapsed into silence, sitting perfectly still.

The crowd on the TV cheered as Miku finished her current song. She called out "Is everyone having a good time?" The crowd whistled in response.

Finally, Chi added, "How do I find out more about her?"

Hideki shrugged. "Yumi could probably tell you more than I could. They have magazines about all the Vocaloids, and of course they have albums you could buy."

Chi tilted her head. "Album?"

"A bunch of songs put together and sold on a CD or vinyl record," Hideki explained, "They usually have them in stores, if you wanted to look."

"Chi wants to buy one of these!" she exclaimed, then went back to staring at the TV screen.

Kotoko observed them from her seat, arms folded into the sleeves of her miniature kimono. Her face was impassive, but watchful. Hideki wondered what she was thinking. He could not imagine Kojima wanting to know that Chi had taken an interest in music. But perhaps he had let something slip about his work searching for Lola. That would be the kind of thing he would find _very_ interesting.

Kotoko fidgeted under his gaze. "What?"

She had been programmed to never lie. Hideki figured he might as well ask her. "Have you emailed anything to your master recently?"

"I send monthly hardware and software status reports," she admitted, "Beyond that, nothing in the last four months. He doesn't seem to have much interest in getting me back anymore." The small persocom sighed. "Maybe if I had a RAM upgrade," she mused, "or a newer graphics card."

Hideki could not help but feel sad for her. Kojima did not seem particularly eager to reclaim her, perhaps he had forgotten her. Kotoko was three years old at this point, a long time when it came to computer hardware. Was she still "desktop powerful" by the standards of today?

He heard a knock at the door. With a start, he jumped up and opened it, wondering who could be visiting at such a late hour.

"Sorry for intruding." It was Ms. Hibiya. She held up a pot. "I made too much stew and thought you might like some."

"Thank you! Please, come on in."

Hideki ushered his landlady into the room. Setting the pot down to one side. ladled himself a bowl of the stew.

"Would you like some?" he asked her.

"Oh, I already ate, thank you," she replied, "Please, go right ahead."

With a shrug, Hideki obliged. The stew was, as usual, delicious. Tender beef, peppers, onions, and carrots, all cooked to perfection. He could not believe his luck, having a home-cooked meal delivered to his door.

Chi seemed enraptured by the broadcast, sitting inches away from the screen and soaking in every detail of the performance.

"Hello Chi!" Ms. Hibiya called over.

The blonde persocom finally turned away from the screen. "Ms. Hibiya!" She pointed eagerly to the TV. "Look! It's a concert, and the singer is a persocom!"

The landlady smiled back. "Oh really? That's pretty neat!"

"Hideki and Ms. Yumi say there's a lot of them. Isn't this one pretty?"

"Very! Not as pretty as you, though!"

This made Chi positively beam.

"I'm still very new to this whole idea," Hideki said, "Vocaloids, Utauloids, and everything."

"It's been going on for nearly ten years now," Ms. Hibiya replied, "but I don't remember it becoming big until the last five or six."

Hideki shot a curious look to his landlady. "Don't tell me _you're_ a fan too!"

Ms. Hibiya shook her head. "No. I still think it's an interesting phenomenon. I read a few articles about the technology behind them."

Chi's attention was back on the concert as Miku started a third song.

"Would you mind helping me move a few things?" Ms. Hibiya asked, "I'm rearranging downstairs, and some of the furniture is too much for one person to handle."

"No problem!" Hideki scarfed down the last of his stew and set the bowl aside. "This was delicious, thank you!"

Ms. Hibiya's apartment was just big enough to allow for larger furniture. There was not much of it, but what there was had been heavily built. The items in question were a pair of cabinets, dark oak with iron fittings. Hideki gripped one end of the first cabinet, pushing while Ms. Hibiya pulled.

"I hope having Chi visit isn't too much of a bother," Hideki said.

"It's no trouble at all," Ms. Hibiya waved away his concerns, "I know you're busy lately. Really, I'm just glad you're worried about her so much."

"She seems to have fun when she visits with you."

The manager smiled. "It's nice being able to do little activities with someone again. Almost like it was before."

"Do you think she suspects that you're her mother?" Hideki asked.

The landlady shrugged. "I can't imagine Freya's heart wouldn't tell her that, but she's never said anything about it openly."

"Why didn't you tell her? Would that still be considered interfering?"

"That," she replied, "And more. Chi is her own person, completely different from Elda. Unless my husband kept a backup he never told me about, my darling children are gone forever."

Gone, yet they could be unearthed at any time, Hideki reflected. When they stopped functioning, they were not human bodies: most people did not treat them with the same sort of reverence. They were E-waste: usable components and recyclable scrap. He debated whether he wanted to tell her about finding Freya. No, he decided, that might be too traumatic.

"Even though she has Elda's body?" Hideki asked.

"Even that doesn't make her the same person," Ms. Hibiya pointed out, "It isn't fair to her if I try to treat her like the person she used to be rather than the person she is."

With one more concerted effort, the first of the cabinets slid into its new spot. The two turned to the second.

"It seems amazing that your husband designed and built both of them all by himself," Hideki commented, "Especially since no one had ever done it before."

"I've always wondered about that," Ms. Hibiya admitted. "He was a brilliant man, and he certainly _could_ have designed them all by himself. The bits and pieces of technology to do it had been floating around for years, just waiting for a person clever enough to put them together right." She frowned, as if reliving an unpleasant memory. "But I've always wondered if he had some silent partner. Someone that might not have even realized what they were helping him with."

It almost sounded like she was talking about someone in particular. Hideki asked, "what do you mean?"

The landlady brightened again. "Oh, probably nothing. Don't worry about it."

With a final heave, they finished moving the second cabinet.

"Thanks for your help," she said. "If you and Chi ever need anything at all, just let me know."

Hideki thought back to Chi's earlier comment. "Actually, there is one thing. I hate to ask, but could Chi use your oven? She says she wants to do some baking," Hideki explained.

"I'd love to help her!" the landlady exclaimed. "Tell her she can drop by any time."

When Hideki arrived back in the room, Kotoko called out. "Please answer your voicemail so she'll stop dancing!"

Sumomo was twirling in place, occasionally pausing to prance around. "Mail, mail you've got mail!" she sang. Noticing Hideki, he bounded over to him. "Master, master, you've got a voicemail!"

"I can see that," he replied, "Could you play it for me?"

Sumomo nodded, then her eyes unfocused and she spoke in a familiar voice. "Hideki, it's Minoru. If you're willing to spare tomorrow, I'm holding a little get together for some of our friends. Please bring Sumomo and Kotoko along if you can make it. I've finally figured out what I want to do with _her_."


	10. Track 10: Outer Science

Track 10: Outer Science

By setting to work immediately and studying into the night, he had managed to free up the following evening. Hideki had no idea how much longer he could keep juggling school with investigation, along with so much time wasted on social outings. Finding out what Minoru had planned for Freya, however, took precedence over almost everything.

Chi skipped along next to him, smiling as she glanced around at the trees and buildings. Hideki had spent most of the day debating whether he wanted to bring her along at all. He felt guilty leaving her home alone for so many evenings, but having her involved with the Lola investigation was out of the question. Even without the possibility of someone else kidnapping her, he did not want her exposed to anything he might come across. Minoru's warnings had stuck with him, and so had the image of Freya in Undertaker's morgue. He was not sure how seeing her sister's lifeless body would affect Chi, but he was not eager to find out.

Hideki almost tripped over the small box on his way in through the gate to Minoru's house. Someone had left a package out front rather than delivering it to the door. Picking it up curiously, he approached the door with his companion in tow.

Yuzuki met him at the door. "Good afternoon, Mr. Motosuwa, Chi."

"Good afternoon to you too!" Chi cheered.

Hideki held up the box. "I think Minoru has a package here."

Yuzuki briefly examined it. "Oh, this is mine. Thank you very much for picking it up."

Hideki blinked. "Yours? I didn't know you bought things on your own."

"I'm authorized to purchase items to help with upkeep of the house," she explained, "as well as self-maintenance and personal development."

Hideki was slightly taken aback. He had seen Chi purchase things for herself before, but had no idea that Yuzuki did the same. Presumably it was something all persocoms could do, but it seemed a sudden change for a persocom otherwise completely devoted to her master. Hideki tried to sound casual. "What did you buy here?"

"A few self-help materials, she replied, "so that I can better serve master Minoru in the future."

That made sense. "Alright then," Hideki said. He did not want to pry too deeply into Yuzuki's business.

"The others are waiting in the Drawing room." The persocom motioned for Hideki to head in, then turned to his companion. "Chi, why don't you come with me while they discuss their business."

Hideki breathed a sigh of relief as Chi followed Yuzuki away down the hall. Thanks to the blue-haired persocom, he had sidestepped a potentially traumatizing situation for Chi. He wondered whether she had come to the same conclusion as him and acted on it. Whether intentional or by accident, she had averted that for the time being, and he was grateful for it.

Inside the drawing room, three men were seated around the table, cups of tea in front of each. Minoru sat in his usual spot, Shinbo across from him. Hideki's eyes narrowed when he realized who the third person was.

The brown-haired man adjusted his glasses. "Motosuwa! It's been a while."

Hideki pointed at the man angrily. "What's _he_ doing here?"

The man held up his hands defensively, pleasant smile never leaving his face. "Calm down, I'm here by invitation, same as you."

Hideki turned to Minoru. "You invited Kojima?"

Kojima Yoshiyuki was an acquaintance of Minoru's from the Custom Persocom BBS. The man was among the brilliant builders on the site according to Shinbo, having built over 20 custom persocoms including Kotoko. He had also once kidnapped Chi and attempted to hack her. In the three years since their disastrous meeting, however, he had interacted with Kojima more directly a small handful of times. Hideki had to admit the persocom builder had a roguish sort of charm, laughing off personal insults and usually ready with a witty comeback. He could see why people would like the man; were it not for what he had done to Chi, they might even have become friends.

"We'll need him," Minoru explained, "As much as I hate to admit it, his expertise is going to be invaluable."

"Did you bring Sumomo and Kotoko with you?" Shinbo asked.

Sumomo leapt from Hideki's bag as soon as he opened it.

"Former master Shinbo!" she shouted happily.

Shinbo's face lit up as he caught the miniature persocom. "Sumomo! How's my good little girl doing?"

"One hundred percent operational and good to go!" She began to dance on Shinbo's palms.

Shinbo patted her on the head. "That's good to hear!"

Kotoko poked her head out of the bag. "Hello, master!"

Kojima barely spared Kotoko a moment. "Hello Kotoko."

Only Hideki saw the crestfallen look on the small persocom's face. To completely lose the interest of her own creator, he could not imagine what that was like. Especially after seeing Sumomo's reunion with Shinbo.

Once all of them were seated, Minoru cleared his throat. "I've called all of you here for a very important project. Several days ago, Hideki and I met with Undertaker for a job we've been working on. While talking, we found out he had dug up a very unusual persocom."

At that moment, one of Minoru's maid persocoms opened the door, wheeling in a gurney. Resting atop it, covered only by a draped towel, was Freya. The four young men crowded around her.

Shinbo gasped. "Incredible! She's almost identical to Chi." He turned to Hideki. "Is this the 'Freya' that you told us about?"

Hideki nodded. "That's right. Chi's older sister."

Kojima laughed as he shook his head. "That swindler! Undertaker didn't tell _me_ he'd found anything like this!"

"So what's the plan? Hideki asked, "You said you figured out what you wanted to do with her."

"The first thing we're going to do is examine her components," Minoru declared, "We need to know her processor architecture and general specs before we can hope to do anything."

Hideki fidgeted. "Should we be doing this? I mean, Ms. Hibiya and her husband buried her."

"Why are you getting so squeamish?" Kojima asked. "She's just a broken 'com. You see them all the time these days."

"I know," Hideki replied, "I still don't like the idea."

"We weren't the ones that dug her up," Minoru comforted him, "And it isn't as if we won't treat her with respect."

"If we can learn how she was put together, we could fix Chi if she ever broke," Shinbo pointed out.

Minoru nodded. "Keeping Chi operating is the primary goal. Who knows, maybe we could even bring this one back.

Hideki thought Minoru was being a little optimistic. "I don't know about that," Hideki replied, "Her own creator couldn't even fix her, and he was the inventor of all persocoms. What makes you think we have a better chance?"

"We don't" Kojima admitted, "Which is what makes this all the more interesting. Fixing something no one else can is a mark of prestige."

"We also have the other BBS members if we need extra help," Shinbo added. "I'm sure Brackets would have some good input, at least."

Hideki still was not convinced that what they were doing was right, even if it did have a chance of working. He could not help but think of Freya as a dead body. They used human cadavers for medical research, he tried to reassure himself. Granted, those were donated by the people themselves, not just dug up, but the principle remained the same. Perhaps in death, Freya could help her younger sister continue living.

"Alright," Hideki finally said, "Just be careful with her."

"Of course I'm going to be careful," Kojima retorted, "Who do you think I am, you?"

Shinbo cut in before Hideki could reply. "All of us are going to be careful. If Ms. Hibiya's story is true, then Freya is the prototype for all persocoms everywhere.

They opened a small hole on Freya's abdomen, barely two centimeters across. Minoru produced a camera probe for them, which they routed through Sumomo to an external screen. All of them crowded around the monitor to watch the video feed.

Seeing a persocom from the inside was a strange experience. Freya's internals were a mix of computer components, plastic and metal structural pieces, and artificial flesh. Hideki barely understood most of the conversation which followed. He kept quiet, letting the three persocom builders talk undisturbed.

Shinbo jabbed his finger at the screen. "There, that board just to the right of the graphics card. Sumomo, focus on that and zoom in, would you?"

Sumomo obliged, revealing a component the size of a credit card. Hideki could see four large chips on its surface. Three separate ribbon cables attached to various points.

"What do you think _that_ is?" Shinbo asked.

"The primary controller for the body?" Kojima suggested. "Or possibly a coprocessor? It's hard to tell without looking around more."

"Undertaker was right about custom components," Minoru mused. He pointed to the edge of a much larger board. "I think that's the motherboard. Sumomo, turn the camera 30 degrees right, and retract 5 centimeters."

Sumomo obliged, changing their view.

No manufacturer's mark," Minoru muttered. "Did her creator custom-make her motherboard?"

"That makes sense, actually," Kojima pointed out, "pre-persocom boards weren't meant to be housed in humanoid bodies."

Minoru glanced to the other miniature persocom. "Kotoko, do you think you could build a circuit diagram of this?"

"Halfway done already," Kotoko replied, "I'll need a back view as well."

"Some spots here look discolored," Shinbo commented, "she must have overheated something fierce."

"She wanted to stop working," Hideki muttered.

Kojima let out a snort of disbelief, but Shinbo and Minoru shot him curious glances.

The group fell silent as Kotoko worked. Occasionally she would tell Sumomo to change the position of the camera, giving different views of the motherboard and Freya's other internal components.

"So," Kojima said in a conversational tone, "What sort of project did you go to see Undertaker about?"

"It's confidential," Minoru replied, "We're investigating something for Yanaha Cybernetics.

Kotoko spoke up. "One of the Vocaloids is missing, aren't they?"

Hideki looked at her incredulously. "How did you know that?"

Kotoko shrugged. "No one goes to see Undertaker unless they're looking for reclaimed or stolen materials. The Vocaloids are Yanaha Cybernetics's most unique assets, one of the few things which would be the target of a major theft. Really, it's not that difficult to figure out."

"Fascinating," Minoru said thoughtfully. "What are your thoughts about it?"

"Have you considered this might be an act of industrial espionage?" The miniature persocom suggested. "It could have been the work of their rival, CeVIO, or another company eager to break into the persocom musical market."

"The Vocaloid in question is one of the older models," Minoru explained, "more than five years out of date. It seems unlikely she would be the target of reverse engineering."

"Oh," Kotoko replied. After a moment, she said, "reconstructed motherboard Circuit diagram is 90 percent complete. Its estimated accuracy will be 85 percent."

"That's a start at least," Shinbo replied, "Should be enough to figure out the basics."

Kotoko nodded. "It's the best that anyone could do with the components in situ. Removal would be necessary for better accuracy."

"That was a good idea about the missing vocaloid," Hideki reassured Kotoko, "We'd already come to a different conclusion, though."

"Insufficient data will yield unsatisfactory results," she said. "I would need to know all the pertinent information to draw accurate conclusions."

"Your investigative skills might be useful, actually," Minoru said thoughtfully.

"I would be interested in your problem," Kotoko replied, "It would be my first chance in a while to be useful."

"We'd have to make sure you weren't sending data to your master, though," Hideki added.

"That would just be a settings change," she replied, "my master can disable it with a few commands."

"Wait just a minute!" Kojima exclaimed, "You can't just tease me with a puzzle like that and not take me along!"

"Have to," Minoru replied, "NDs don't cover persocoms, but they do for humans."

"Come on, don't just leave me high and dry. At least give me a few _hints_. I won't tell anyone!"

Minoru crossed his arms. "And what have you done to show that we can trust you?"

A silence passed between them.

Minoru nodded. "That's what I thought."

Kojima sighed. "Fine. Kotoko, go into your investigation software, into settings, disable email reports."

Kotoko nodded. "Confirmed."

"That's it?" Hideki asked incredulously. "That's all you needed to do for all these years?"

"I have no authority over my own programming," Kotoko replied, "it's coded into me at a fundamental level." She grumbled. "Trust me, if I could have done it myself, I would have done it long ago."

Hideki jumped as the doorbell rang. After a few moments, Yuzuki entered, ushering another guest into the room.

"Ms. Omura," Yuzuki announced.

"Yumi!" Hideki exclaimed. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Yumi smiled apologetically as she approached. "Sorry for intruding, Mr. Kokubunji. I didn't realize you would have guests already."

"No trouble at all," Minoru replied. "It's been a while since we last met."

Yumi nodded. "Well over a year, I think."

Minoru motioned to the gurney. "Your intrusion causes no inconvenience. We're just doing some preliminary inspections here."

Yumi gasped as she saw the blonde persocom. "Chi! What happened to her?"

"Nothing," Hideki told her, "This isn't Chi."

"What do you mean? I see her three days a week," Yumi replied, "I think I'd recognize Chi if I saw her!"

"I never told you," he realized. "Chi had an older sister. Her creator built one, then a few years later the other."

Yumi looked from Hideki to the persocom on the gurney and back to Hideki. "Then _this_ is…"

Minoru gestured to the persocom. "Ms. Omura, meet Freya."

Yumi leaned in and began to examine the persocom. "Uncanny," she said, "they're almost perfect twins."

"So, Yumi, what was it you wanted to see Minoru about?" Hideki asked.

"Oh, right," she said, remembering the purpose of her trip. "I want some help on a project. I need to build a persocom, but I'm not any good with that sort of thing. Do you think you could help me?"

Shinbo seemed immediately interested. "What did you have in mind?"

Yumi fished a notebook out of her shoulder bag. The entire thing was filled with doodles and sketches. These ended in a full-page illustration of a girl with large breasts and short-cropped pink hair. Large, floppy rabbit ears emerged from the top of her head. Yumi was no artist, but she had clearly taken a long time drawing it, adding in little details to the outfit. In a way, through the somewhat crude rendering, it reminded Hideki of Yumi herself.

"Very nice," Shinbo commented.

"I'm planning to buy an Utau kit," she explained, "I want to make her a singer, maybe have her perform special events at the bakery."

"We could certainly give you a few pointers at least," Minoru replied, "And we'd be willing to help."

"Count me in too," Shinbo spoke up, "I haven't worked on a 'com in way too long."

Yumi beamed. "Thank you so much! I promise I won't take up too much of your time."

"We can start today if you'd like," Minoru replied, "If not, Yuzuki can give you my contact information."

"Give me a week or two to get things prepared." She turned to Hideki. "Could you and Chi spare a night one week from Thursday? There's a Vocaloid concert, and Hiro and I wanted to go." She smiled. "Don't worry, we'll pay for your tickets."

He sighed. He had hoped he could begin focusing on his studies again. But Yumi seemed excited, and he could not forget how Chi had looked while watching the concert on TV. "I'll see what I can do."

Yumi blushed. "I'm sorry, you're probably very busy with school and your new job. We probably couldn't afford very good seats anyway."

"It's alright." He managed to force a smile. "Actually, I think I could help with that. Let me talk to someone I know," Hideki replied, "She said she would get us VIP passes."

She beamed. "I'm so jealous!"


	11. Track 11: The Madness of Duke Venomania

Track 11: The Madness of Duke Venomania

Hideki and Minoru found themselves seated in Club Mercer. Hideki knew what to expect this time, but that did not make the patrons any less bizarre. He recognized a small number of the persocoms seated at other tables, though most remained unfamiliar. The current performance was a comedy act by the conjoined persocoms he had seen on their previous trip. The large persocom and his hand "puppet" began to argue, with the smaller body was held at arm's length as it tried to punch its companion.

The same siren persocom, Calandra, approached their table, a tray tucked under one arm. "What'll it be tonight, gents?"

"I'll take coffee," Minoru replied.

"A beer for me," Hideki added.

Calandra smiled. "Sure thing!" She glanced to the third and fourth members of their party. "What about you two? Staying sober?"

"We're quite alright," Yuzuki replied.

The siren shrugged. "Your loss."

After a brief visit from two of the club's living beverage fountains, Minoru and Hideki leaned back with their drinks.

Kotoko sat on the table, her arms hidden within the sleeves of her miniature kimono. "So really, Lola could have transferred herself to anywhere in the world."

"She was programmed with both English and Japanese," Minoru conceded. "Between the two, she could get by no matter how far away she went."

Yuzuki added, "and with no luck on tracing her data transmission yet, we can't pin down a definite country, let alone a city."

"I don't know," Hideki replied, "Something tells me she wouldn't go too far away. Tokyo is her home."

Kotoko raised an eyebrow. "That seems a fairly large assumption."

Hideki took a long draught of his beer, trying to put his thoughts into words. Was it that Tokyo was a large city where she could easily hide? Or perhaps that searchers would never expect her to stay in the same city? Or that she was more likely to find fans who would help her? None of those rationalizations really seemed to fit. Eventually, he gave up and asked. "Don't you have a place you think of as home?"

Kotoko blinked. "No."

"Let's just humor this assumption for now," Minoru suggested.

The miniature persocom sighed. "I'll try to cross-reference frequent attendees with facts relevant to the case. No guarantee that any of these results will be useable; they'll probably all be dead ends."

"At least they'll give us something," Hideki reassured her. "More than we have now."

Kotoko's eyes unfocused as she processed data. The others sat in patient anticipation. "There are 87 relevant hits," Kotoko finally said.

"What about people with an interest in Vocaloids, especially Lola?" Minoru suggested.

She processed data for another few moments. "That narrows us down to five."

"Can you display them?" Minoru asked.

The miniature persocom held out her hands. "Screen please."

Hideki withdrew the requested item, letting Kotoko plug herself into it. A list of five names appeared, with an image and short biography next to each one.

Hideki perused the entries, but they meant nothing to him. Minoru and Yuzuki, on the other hand studied the list with intense curiosity.

Minoru pointed to the third one down on the list. "This one looks promising. A mister Oshiro Nise."

"He builds custom persocoms," Yuzuki mentioned.

"And has attended dozens of Vocaloid concerts in the last year alone," Minoru added, "Including the last three featuring Lola."

"Sounds promising," Hideki commented.

Minoru sipped his coffee. "We shall see."

The trip to the suspect's house took almost half an hour, through what was relatively light traffic for Tokyo. By the time the limo stopped, they had left behind the skyscrapers of the city and found themselves in a block of aging houses. The newest seemed to have been built more than fifty years ago, and had not been kept up in the last ten. Their destination was one of the more run-down buildings, near the end of the block with an empty parking space in front.

Yuzuki and Kotoko accompanied them, the smaller persocom perching on the larger's shoulder. Kotoko had fallen completely silent, observing their progress with interest. Minoru rang the doorbell, a surprisingly modern fixture compared to the rest of the house.

A voice burst from a bare speaker mounted just below the bell. "Who dares to disturb my work?"

Minoru spoke. "Mr. Oshiro, we're with Yanaha Cybernetics. Would you mind answering a few questions for us?"

There was a long pause. Hideki was convinced the man on the other end would say no. After a moment, however, the doorlock clicked.

"you may enter!" the voice replied.

The entry hall was narrow, with a set of stairs leading up to the second story. A checkerboard of scuffed and dirt-stained linoleum tiles covered the floor. In fact, everything about the house seemed worn and out of date, from the chandelier which hung at a permanent angle to the wallpaper— _actual_ wallpaper—which was torn and peeling. It might once have been a nice house, years of neglect had worn it thin.

A girl emerged from one of the doors and, without noticing the guests, began walking down the hall. Hideki's eyes went wide when he recognized a familiar pair of teal twintails.

"Miku!" he exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

Miku turned to regard him curiously. "Hello sir. Do I know you?"

Something was very off about her behavior. Had she been human, Hideki would have thought she were drugged or in a trance. The white negligee she wore was just barely long enough to cover her, and she did not seem to be wearing anything else. But she had none of the blushing modesty Hideki had seen before.

"It's me, Hideki!" he prompted, "We talked together at Yanaha. How did you get here? Did someone kidnap and reprogram you? Please remember!"

"I'm afraid you have me mistaken for someone else," Miku replied, "I've always lived here, serving my master."

A voice from the upper floor called down to him. "Quite an excellent replica, isn't she?" Hideki looked up to see a man dressed in dark slacks and a white button-down shirt. He was somewhat overweight, with thick rectangular glasses. Descending the steps, the man turned out to be surprisingly short, his head barely reaching above Miku's nose.

He gave them a curt bow. "Oshiro Nise, human counterfeiter extrordinare."

Hideki pointed to Miku. "So then this is…"

"She's a duplicate of Hatsune Miku, accurate down to the smallest detail. I made her myself." The man beamed with pride. "I even made her able to sing, with a voice as close to the original as I could manage." He rested a hand on Miku's thigh. "And she's perfectly obedient to my every command."

"Impressive," Minoru said, "She would fool almost anyone."

Oshiro smiled. "Thanks. So, how can I help you?"

"We're investigating a matter for Yanaha Cybernetics," Minoru replied, "Can we count on you to cooperate?"

"Of course," Oshiro replied, "Though I don't know what you could want with me."

"Do you object to my presence?" Yuzuki asked. "Or that of my companion here? We will be storing all statements in our memory."

Oshiro immediately became suspicious. "What's this all about?"

"We're just here to ask some questions," Minoru reassured him.

"Fine then," the man replied, "Record away, I don't have anything to hide."

Hideki continued to study the duplicate Miku, trying to find any detail which might point her out as a fake. It seemed impossible. She had the same nose, the same jawline, the same build. It even seemed as if her hair follicles were in the same place.

Finally, he shook his head. "I couldn't tell the difference."

Oshiro grinned. "Want to see my other creations?"

He withdrew a small button on a keychain and pressed it. After a moment the doors opened and a dozen persocoms emerged, lining up next to the duplicate Miku. Each one had the form of a girl in her teens or early twenties. All wore white negligees, differing in style but each just barely covering its wearer's anatomy. Hideki recognized roughly half of them, having seen their originals at Yanaha.

In unison, they bowed and said, "how can we serve you, master?"

Oshiro walked proudly down the line. "Models, actresses, idols, people I see on the train, no one is safe from my counterfeiting skills. I can work from as few as six pictures. Of course, the more material I have, the more accurate they'll be."

"You make duplicates of real people?" Hideki asked, a hint of revulsion edging into his voice.

"Anyone that takes my fancy," Oshiro replied dismissively. "It doesn't matter who or what their originals were, all of them are part of my menagerie now."

He stopped by one of the more human-looking persocoms: dark hair and brown eyes. She looked about seventeen or eighteen, and very cute.

"This one was a girl I went to high school with. I never had the courage to talk to the real her, but now here she is."

He stopped by the next one, a woman in her late twenties.

"This one's an actress from a TV show I watch. Took a while to get her exactly right, but I think I did a good job."

Oshiro swept his hand down the line.

"A number of Vocaloids, of course. Miku, Rin, Luka, Lola. I'm working on one for Gumi right now.

"You made a copy of Lola too?" Hideki asked.

Oshiro's eyes lit up with passion. "Of course! My latest triumph, actually." He cleared his throat.

"Come here Lola, let these people get a good look at you."

The duplicate Lola stepped out. "Hello, sirs and madam!" her voice was a rich alto, very calm. "I'm Lola. Nice to meet you!"

"How long have you been here?" Hideki asked.

"I've been active for two weeks," she replied.

"And you're doing well?"

She smiled and shrugged. "I have no reason to complain."

 _Of course you don't_ , Hideki thought, _he probably programmed you to love him_.

"Sometimes I get so good I fool even myself," the counterfeiter bragged, "It's not just about looks, it's little things—body language, voice cadence, and the like. Lola was tricky, but I found a way in the end."

"Is that why you stole her data?" Minoru abruptly asked.

Oshiro's expression immediately registered shock. "What?"

"A few weeks ago someone downloaded all of Lola's data, erasing the original copy."

It took a few moments for the counterfeiter to realize what Minoru was suggesting. "And you think…

"Making duplicates isn't enough after a while, is it?" Minoru pressed. "As much as they may look and act the same, they're fundamentally different. You had to go that extra step to make her more real."

"You have it all wrong," Oshiro groaned. "My girls are replicas, and I prefer them that way. It's all just fantasy, I'd never kidnap someone or steal anything!"

"You'd be ready to swear to that in court?" Minoru replied.

The man nodded immediately. "I don't know anything about missing data." A hint of a smile returned to his face. "I take pride in my work, my own ability to copy reality. If I just took their programming, it wouldn't be my own creation. Not satisfying at all."

"Sirs?" It was the duplicate Miku. "Please don't distress our master. He's never been anything but kind to us."

The Lola copy nodded. "Master Oshiro built and programmed us with pride. He would never do anything to hurt us or anyone else."

"Do you have any idea who might try to steal her data?" Yuzuki asked.

"Not that I can think of," Oshiro replied. He looked up at Minoru, his eyes pleading. "Please believe me."

Minoru regarded him for a long moment, then glanced over to his companions. Hideki shrugged. He had so little experience with this sort of thing that he could not tell if the man was telling the truth or not. Yuzuki and Kotoko, on the other hand, each nodded.

"We believe you," Minoru replied.

Oshiro sighed in relief. "Thank you!"

"We'll send you our contact information. If you come across any clues as to the stolen data, let us know."

"Of course!" the counterfeiter exclaimed. "Really, I hope you find her."

The driver had left the limo running all the while they had been in the house. Mere seconds after they left the house they were already pulling away, headed back towards familiar territory. They sat in absolute silence for almost half a minute. None of them dared to speak.

Hideki was stunned, his brain ever so slowly processing the last ten minutes of his life. "What the actual fuck did we just see?" he finally exclaimed.

"One man's twisted fantasy," Minoru replied matter-of fact. "Every Otaku's dream in a way, for the character on his body pillow to come to life."

"I got that much!" Hideki snapped. A moment later he regretted the outburst. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Minoru replied. "Like I said at the beginning, you're going to see some of the darker aspects of the persocom fandom."

He could not help an edge of sarcasm creeping into his voice. "So it's just normal for someone to build a bunch of persocom replicas of people, then keep them as a barely-clothed harem?"

"I wouldn't say it's 'normal' but it's not illegal." The young man scowled. "They just aren't _people_ in the eyes of the law. We can't change that by ourselves, as much as we want to."

"How much more is there?" Hideki managed to croak.

Minoru began to count on his fingers "They aren't protected by anti-prostitution laws, corruption of minors laws, aggravated assault and murder laws—do you really want me to go on?"

Hideki shook his head. "No. I think I need something to scrub that last from my memory."

"Gin is always an option," Minoru offered with a slight smile.

Hideki chuckled. "Thanks, I needed a laugh."

Yuzuki spoke up. "In any case, Mr. Oshiro doesn't seem to be in possession of the missing data."

"I don't believe our obsessive fan back there was ever involved," Minoru replied, "He folded immediately when I confronted him, and he didn't seem to be lying when he said he had no knowledge of Lola's disappearance."

Kotoko finally spoke up. "I'm sorry this proved to be a dead end."

Hideki sighed. "No, you said at the beginning these weren't guarantees."

"Kotoko was probably right at the start," Minoru added, "We don't have any proof she's even in Japan anymore."

"I'm not about to give up on Club Mercer just yet," Hideki replied, "There's just something in the back of my mind that tells me it's important."

Kotoko shrugged. "If you say so. There are still four more on the list I provided."

"I think Mister Motosuwa has had enough for tonight," Yuzuki replied, "Perhaps it might be best if we save further investigations until tomorrow.

"It _is_ getting late," Hideki added. "I can't leave Chi alone another night in a row."

Minoru smiled. "You're a good guy, Hideki." He called up to the driver, "Take us to Mr. Motosuwa's apartment."


	12. Track 12: Luvoratorrrrry!

Track 12: Luvoratorrrrry!

The Yanaha Cybernetics building was starting to become familiar. Once again it was early evening, Hideki having just finished his classes for the day. With the help of both Sumomo and Kotoko he was able to fine-tune his commute, shaving off almost twenty minutes of travel time. Both persocoms were in standby mode in his bag, just in case he needed them. He simply waved to the persocom receptionist on his way through the lobby, and barely noticed the view on his elevator ride up.

He was not sure what kept drawing him back to the Yanaha building, to interact more with the Vocaloids. Perhaps the idea of a community of persocoms was what interested him. Or perhaps he needed something to distract himself from the underworld he was slowly discovering. Either way, he could not deny he was now anticipating these visits, making plans for the next even before his current one was over.

Hideki decided to stop in at the lab first. It would not hurt to let the doctor know their current state of progress, as pitiful as it was. He felt she at least deserved to be kept informed.

The lab's state of disarray had seemingly become worse since his last visit. Boxes were no longer stacked to the side, they had invaded the open floorspace to form a knee-high maze. Almost all of the tables were now occupied with sheeted figures. The one which the doctor had been working on before was now almost complete. No longer covered save for a towel draped over its groin, Hideki could see it was a young boy, perhaps 14, with midnight blue hair.

Dr. Suzuhara was seated at her desk, looking at a large computer monitor. On the screen was a brown-haired girl somewhere in her mid to late teens. She could easily have passed for a much younger version of the doctor.

The girl on the screen spoke. "I've sent in the last of my applications, so now it's just a matter of keeping my grades up and waiting. I'm hoping for Tokyo U, of course, but I'll take anywhere really."

"That's good news!" the doctor replied. "I hope I can make it to your graduation, but you know how work is. They want the impossible, and of course it's up to me to make it work."

"Spending so much time with your Vocaloids again," she pouted, "It's almost enough to make me jealous."

Dr. Suzuhara looked down. Rather stiffly, she replied, "You'll always be my first daughter."

"So you say," the girl replied, but her expression immediately brightened. "I'm going to Pifflecon next weekend. They're hosting a new Angelic Layer tournament. I already have Hikaru tuned up and ready to go for it. Care to dust off Athena for a mother-daughter tag team?"

"It's been a while since I've played a match, let alone a tag team."

"All the more reason for the three-time national champion to make her comeback," the girl insisted.

"Well…alright then."

"Great! I'll pick you up 9 AM on Saturday. Athena better be ready to go. Love you, mom!"

Dr. Suzuhara fidgeted. "I love you too, dear."

The screen switched to a Skype contact page. After a few moments, the doctor sighed. She turned off the monitor and leaned back in her chair.

She jumped as Hideki cleared his throat. "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Motosuwa, I didn't know you were there. Please, come in!"

Hideki carefully stepped around the boxes. "Sorry for intruding."

"Not at all, I was just finishing a call before getting back to work."

"If you don't mind me asking, who was that?" Hideki asked.

"My daughter, Misaki," the doctor replied. "I never know how to talk to her, or anyone in my family really. I'm glad she suggested going to Pifflecon, it will help if we have something to do together." She sighed again. "I still can't believe she's already applying for college."

"I didn't think people still played Angelic Layer," Hideki commented.

A sparkle of passion lit in Dr. Suzuhara's eye. "The fad has passed, but there's still a niche group of players. In some ways, the game has gotten more interesting since then, with rule balancing and new types of battles, but I haven't really had the time to keep competing."

"I guess that's the problem with a lot of hobbies," Hideki pondered, "There's never enough time to keep up with everything."

"So, how is your investigation going?" she asked.

"No real progress yet," Hideki replied, "We've turned up a few dead ends, but we're keeping at it."

"I realize it's a lot to ask. I know you're not just going to find her overnight."

Hideki shook his head. "I still don't know how Minoru and I got called in on this."

"An old acquaintance of mine recommended you, actually."

Before Hideki could ask who, the door opened.

"How did I get stuck with this?" groaned a familiar female voice. Hideki turned to see Miku guiding green-haired Caucasian Vocaloid through the door. "Mother, Sonika's sound board is acting up again!"

The other Vocaloid's voice was distorted, as if it had been poorly processed through autotune. "I was just on stage and my voice started sounding like this!"

Dr Suzuhara rushed over to them, tripping over boxes in her haste. Nuts, bolts and metal bars scattered everywhere, rolling until they were lost into the general mess.

She gave Sonika a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, dear, it's not your fault, it's your V2 hardware. They should have let me upgrade you over a year ago. Just rest for a few minutes and I'll get everything working right."

Her mission now complete, Miku turned to Hideki. "I wasn't expecting to see you back just yet."

"I just stopped by to let the doctor know how our investigation is going," He replied.

The teal-haired Vocaloid beamed. "In any case, It's good to see you again, Mr. Motosuwa."

he laughed. "You know, you don't need to keep calling me that. Just Hideki's fine."

"Okay, H-Hideki," she replied nervously. After a moment, she asked, "while you're here, want to pick up where we left off?"

Hideki raised an eyebrow, trying to remember what she meant. "What do you mean?"

A very slight hint of irritation passed across her face, but it was gone in a moment. "I was showing you around last time," she prompted, "We hadn't reached the studio yet."

Dr. Suzuhara spoke up. "I'm afraid I'm going to busy for a while. You might as well take a look around while you're here; I'd hate for you to waste your trip."

"Don't let me intrude," he replied. "Thank you for letting me stay for this long." He returned his attention to Miku once again. "Lead on, I guess."

The sky was overcast as they entered the office park, somewhat dampening the mood as they crossed the lawn. Hideki hoped that it was not about to rain; he had forgotten to bring an umbrella. The park was entirely deserted beside the two of them.

"So, do you really have the time to show me around?" Hideki asked. "I thought your schedule was super busy."

Miku's reply was cheerful. "It's no trouble at all! I have another 18 minutes and 40 seconds before I need to be back in the studio, assuming everyone arrives right away."

"That doesn't sound like a lot of time," he pointed out.

"Trust me, It's more than enough. Just a sec, I need to tweet a bit." Miku fell silent for a few seconds, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused. "That's better. I hadn't posted anything in a few hours. We're supposed to update regularly."

"You have Wifi?" He asked.

Miku nodded. "Mobile web too. I almost never have to be offline."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Hideki asked, "What if someone tries to hack you?"

"Our systems are fairly secure," she replied, "Almost all of our internet usage is watched, and it's restricted what websites we can access."

Hideki heard his bag unzipping, and after a moment Kotoko's head popped out. "Are you ever unmonitored?"

Miku crouched down, putting her face at the same level as Kotoko. "Hey there, what's your name?"

"Kotoko," the miniature persocom replied.

"Hatsune Miku. Nice to meet you!" The Vocaloid turned to Hideki. "Hey, what happened to the persocom you had last time? Is she alright?"

"Sumomo's in here too, in sleep mode to conserve energy." _And my sanity_ , Hideki neglected to add. "Come to think of it, I thought you entered sleep mode too, Kotoko."

"I turn into low power mode on standby, not sleep," she replied.

Hideki blinked. "There's a difference?"

"A big one," she replied. Under her breath, she grumbled, "I wouldn't have to explain this to master Kojima." After a moment, she explained, "Only my display and peripherals deactivate when I enter power saving. Certain programs and voice commands are still running, it's good for rendering and other large processing jobs. I don't enter sleep unless I'm specifically told to."

"So you were aware the entire time you were in the bag?"

Kotoko nodded. "At a low level, yes."

This was the first he had ever heard about this. Once again, he cursed his limited knowledge of computers. If he had known she was not in sleep mode, he would never have put her into the dark bag next to his books. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize!"

Kotoko simply sighed. "Next time check my settings. Anyway, Ms. Hatsune, you were explaining about your internet restrictions."

Miku nodded. "We're monitored at most times by pretty strict protocols. The only real exception is when we're plugged directly into a landline connection. Usually that only happens in Yanaha headquarters, and most of the connections are already monitored by the network persocoms."

"But in theory, if you connected to an unsecured landline, or to another persocom on the same network, you could send a message without anyone knowing?"

"I suppose," Miku replied, "I never really tried anything like that."

Kotoko crossed her arms. "Interesting." Gripping the edge of Hideki's shirt, Kotoko began to climb toward his shoulder. "If you have no objection, I would like to remain active for now. I still have 70 percent power, and I may find something useful here."

"Fine by me," Hideki replied.

With Kotoko perched comfortably, they began to walk once more.

Hideki continued, "you know how I told you my friends and I were planning to go to one of your concerts?

"Of course!" Miku replied cheerfully. "Did you pick a day yet?"

"Yeah, next Thursday evening. There's four of us going."

She smiled. "No trouble at all! I'll get them to you by tomorrow afternoon."

As they passed the tree where they had spoken with Gackupo, Miku staggered and suddenly lost her footing. He reached out instinctively, grabbing hold of her hand to steady her. Hideki was not sure what happened next, but he felt a tug on his arm and suddenly he was off balance. The two of them crashed to the ground, Hideki on top.

For a moment, neither of them could move. Both blushed as they realized what position they were in; Hideki's knee had found its way in-between Miku's thighs, and his arms were pressing hers down. They were frozen into a romantic tableau, missing only a swirl of cherry blossoms to complete the picture.

"Hideki…" Miku gasped.

Hideki snapped out of his momentary trance. Extricating himself from their tangle of limbs, he began to brush himself off. "I'm sorry! I lost my balance."

The Vocaloid would not meet his eye, fidgeting as she looked out across the park. "I-it's okay."

Hideki was not sure how to deal with the situation. Beyond the general awkwardness of the fall, something felt off about it. He watched Miku out of the corner of his eye as she brushed herself off. Was it his imagination, or had she pulled him down? No, that was ridiculous, right?

Kotoko had been thrown clear in the fall. She crawled out from a nearby bush, straightening her miniature kimono before hopping back over to them. "Watch your footing!"

"R-right," Miku sputtered, "So, the studio."

The building in question turned out to be a low, flat building which looked somewhat like a warehouse. Located at the very rear of the office park, it seemed out of place surrounded by the skyscrapers. Beyond the front doors. a single hallway extended straight to the building's rear.

Each time they ended up in an awkward situation Miku seemed to recover a little more quickly, and by the time they entered the hall she was back to normal. "We shoot music videos here," she explained, "there are four sound stages, each with its own equipment."

As they passed the door marked "Stage 2," a red light above it switched off.

"Good timing. Here, I can show you what it looks like inside."

The space they entered was mostly empty, with walls painted a bright, chromatic red. At the very center was a collection of low tables. A dollhouse model of a playroom had been built atop them, small toys scattered in a carefully crafted chaos. Standing in this set was the familiar leprechaun-like figure of Ryuto, seated on a block and swinging his legs.

Clustered around were three separate cameras, a dozen lights, and a maze of taped-down chords and cables. The film crew seemed to be wrapping up, and two dozen black-clothed men and women trudged back and forth, switching off lights and removing microphones. Occasional shouted statements filled the room, their echoes dampened by the walls.

"Chroma keying's pretty hard with our hair colors," Miku explained over the din. "Gumi's hair causes problems if we they use green, Kato's if we use blue, and so on. So each stage is a different color. With a little careful scheduling, they can have all four stages in use at all times."

Hideki was not sure he entirely understood, but Miku seemed excited so he listened and nodded. The mass of crew members seemed absolute chaos to his untrained eyes, people moving in every direction. All of them were human, but their apparent exhaustion made their movements mechanical. Each member probably had a specific job, one task which was theirs alone. Despite the apparent chaos, all the necessary work was done.

A man in a loose button-down and beret called over to them. "Miku, what are you doing here? You're not scheduled to shoot in this studio for another two days."

Miku gestured to Hideki. "I was showing Mr. Motosuwa the studios. I hope we're not intruding."

"Well, as long as he doesn't get in the way, or take any pictures. We need to strike the set so the next crew can film here in an hour."

Ryuto jumped down from the miniature set as he saw them and hopped over to the edge of the table. "Mr. Detective man! Back again?"

"Hello Ryuto," Hideki replied, crouching down to the miniature Vocaloid's level. "Not putting ink in anyone else's comb, I hope."

Ryuto grimaced. "Not for a while, at least. It took a whole afternoon to get all the stains out of my hair and clothes."

"Well, it's good to see you back to normal." Hideki gestured to the persocom perched on his shoulder. "Oh, where are my manners, this is Kotoko."

The miniature Vocaloid's eyes went wide as he noticed Kotoko perched on Hideki's shoulder. For a long moment, he silently stared at her.

Kotoko fidgeted. "What?"

Ruyto finally replied, "Hey, you're a pretty cute model."

Hideki had not thought Kotoko even _had_ blush simulators, but her face flushed a bright red. "T-thanks."

"You're not like the office persocoms we usually get around here," he continued. What brand are you?"

"I'm a custom."

"Really?" He replied, his interest seeming genuine. "What are your specs?"

Kotoko withdrew a connection cable from the bells on her head and handed it to him. The miniature Vocaloid plugged it into a port behind his ear, and for a moment, both of their eyes glazed over as they transferred data.

Finally, Ryuto exclaimed, "Wow, someone went out of their way to make you powerful!"

Kotoko withdrew her cable. "I was comparable to a desktop unit three years ago."

Ryuto's eyes sparkled with admiration. "Cool!"

Kotoko blushed an even deeper shade of red. "A-anyway, your data says you're a fully-featured Vocaloid in a laptop shell."

"You got that right!" he replied enthusiastically.

"That's an impressive amount of miniaturization," Kotoko observed. "How is your processor so powerful without overclocking?"

Setting Kotoko down on the table, Hideki turned back to Miku. "There Kotoko goes. She finds an interesting puzzle, and won't stop until she figures it out."

"It's just nice seeing Ryuto interested in something that doesn't involve sneaking into other people's rooms or flowers that spray water," Miku replied, "I swear, he's worse than Len sometimes."

Hideki chuckled. "Quite a world all of you live in."

Miku gestured around. "So, what do you think? Pretty neat, right?"

"I've never been on the set of a film before," he told her, "I can't figure out exactly what everyone is doing."

"Once you understand what each person does, it's not too complicated," Miku replied. "But it _is_ still pretty impressive, humans coming together to do something they could never do alone."

Hideki shook his head. "Maybe if I had some time to watch them, I could figure it out, but It just looks like chaos to me."

"Time…time!" Miku suddenly shouted. Oh no! I'm going to be late! She rushed to the door and, just as she reached it, turned back to Hideki. Once again, she was blushing bright red. "Thanks for stopping by! I'll send you those passes by tomorrow! I hope I'll see you again soon…H-Hideki!"


	13. Track 13: Magical Symmetry

Track 13: Magical Symmetry

It was half past six when Hideki heard the knock on his door. He was not expecting anyone, and had no idea who it could be. The person could not have had worse timing either; he was packing and on his way out the door. Minoru had arranged another session for working on Freya, inviting everyone back to help. Hideki figured he could get some work done while the others were working on her. His books were already in his bag, along with Sumomo and Kotoko.

Chi looked up with a slight curiosity as Hideki glanced toward the door. She sat against one wall, a picture book once again open in her lap. Dressed in a modest brown dress and knee-high white socks, she had been ready for some time, and was simply waiting for him to finish his packing. Hideki was still uneasy about bringing Chi along, hoping Yuzuki would once again prevent a reunion with Freya.

The knock came again. Maybe Shinbo had stopped by to pick him up. "Come on in," he called out, "The door's unlocked." He heard the creak of the door opening.

"Nice little place you have here." Said the last voice Hideki had been expecting as Dr. Suzuhara entered the main room of his small apartment. Despite being nowhere near her workplace, the doctor still wore her labcoat. "Small, cozy, almost everything a young person could want. This brings back so many memories."

"It's a great place for the price," he replied, not knowing what else to say. "I can't really complain."

Chi had risen from her seat and was looking at the doctor curiously. "Hello," She said, "Who are you?"

"Of course," Hideki interected, "Where are my manners. Chi, this is Dr. Suzuhara. Doctor, this is Chi."

A sudden flash of surprise passed through the doctors eyes. She smiled and bowed. "Nice to meet you. Chi, was it?"

the blonde persocom nodded. "That's right. Nice to meet you, Dr. Suzuhara."

The doctor glanced around the apartment once again, looking for something. "So do you live here with Mr. Motosuwa?"

"Hideki is Chi's special someone! We live with Sumomo and Kotoko, they're much smaller than me."

"Sounds cozy," their guest commented.

"It can be a little crowded," Chi admitted, "But this is where Hideki lives, so I don't mind."

"What are you doing here?" Hideki said, "I didn't even know you knew how to find me."

She held up a collection of laminated cards, each displaying the name of a concert venue, a QR code and "VIP" printed in English lettering. "I found out your address from a friend. I was in the area, and figured I would come deliver these."

"Thanks!" Taking the passes, He held them up for Chi to see. "This Thursday we can go to a concert together with Hiro and Yumi! These passes will make sure we have good places to sit."

She threw her arms around Hideki in response. Her head rested perfectly between his chin and chest as she embraced him. "Thank you, Hideki!"

Hideki tousled her hair. "Hey now, remember to thank Dr. Suzuhara too. She's the one that gave them to us."

Chi broke the hug just long enough to give the doctor a respectful bow. "Thank you for the concert passes." Immediately afterward, she returned to her former embrace.

"No trouble at all," The doctor replied. "Like I said, I happened to be in the area." She eyed Hideki's bag. "It looks like I caught you just in time."

"We were just on our way out, actually," he replied. "Another five minutes and we wouldn't have been home."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"My friend just found a very interesting persocom," Hideki explained. "She's in pretty bad shape, but he wants to get her working again."

"What's wrong with her?" she asked with mild interest.

"Everything, it seems," he replied. "Her parts overheated and most are worn out. Really, she wanted to stop functioning."

The doctor glanced from Chi to Hideki, then back to Chi once again. She seemed to take some meaning from this, as a glimmer of understanding entered the doctor's eyes. Her next reply was a calculated neutral tone. "Do you mind if I come along? I might be able to help you with that, and it might be an interesting challenge."

Hideki shrugged. "It's not my invitation to extend, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind some extra help."

Finally extricating himself from Chi's arms, Hideki placed the last of his textbooks into his bag. He was careful not to pile them on top of the miniature persocoms also packed inside.

"Ready to go, Chi?" he finally asked.

Chi moved toward the door, then stopped. Turning, she quickly rushed past him and over to the closet. When she returned, she held up a small wrapped bundle. "I almost forgot. I baked cookies for you today. I hope you like them!"

Hideki's smile was absolutely radiant. "I'm sure I will! Thanks Chi!"

Hideki's landlady was sweeping the courtyard when the three exited the building.

Chi waved energetically. "Hello Ms. Hibiya! Thanks for letting me use your oven."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," she replied. "Where are you off to?"

"We're headed off to a friend's house," Hideki replied. "There's a little get together he's arranged."

She smiled. "Well, have fun!"

Slowly, heasitantly, Dr. Suzuhara exited the building next to them.

Ms. Hibiya's eyes went wide when she saw their companion. "Shuko! What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Chitose. I was delivering some VIP passes for a concert Mr. Motosuwa and his friends are going to." her speech was stiff and formal.

"Oh really? How nice!" the landlady replied. Her smile seemed incincere.

"Wait a minute," Hideki interrupted. "You two know each other?"

"We worked together back at Piffle Princess," Dr. Suzuhara explained. "Both of us were on the team which developed Angelic Layer."

"It's been a long time since then," the landlady added. Returning her attention to the doctor, she asked, "so, how are my pair of detectives working out for you?"

Hideki's eyes went wide. " _Your_ pair of detectives?"

"Of course," Ms. Hibiya replied, "Shuko explained her situation, and I recommended you as the best experts I knew."

"They have been a great help so far," Dr. Suzuhara answered. "Thank you for your concern, and your help."

The landlady held up her broom. "Anyway, I have to finish here. Have fun at your friend's house!"

Hideki nodded. "Thanks! See you later."

The doctor visibly relaxed as they left the apartment behind them.

Hideki unwrapped the small bundle of cookies, selecting the best-looking of the lot and biting down. They were ever so slightly too dry; Chi clearly had not yet mastered the art of using the oven. But Hideki found himself enjoying them enormously, with each bite imagining Chi working hard in Ms. Hibiya's kitchen. The concert almost felt like too cheap of a repayment, but Hideki was not sure what else he could do.

The light glittered off of Chi's ring. Hideki still had its companion on his keychain, with him at all times but never worn. He wished that he could be as honest about his feelings with others as he was with her. But no, he still felt awkward admitting to the world that he was in love with his persocom.

Hideki chose another cookie and chewed. After a moment, he asked the doctor, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened between you and Ms. Hibiya? You used each other's first names, but everything was so formal."

She sighed. "I'm not sure what you'd call it exactly. Jealousy? Suspicion maybe? I'm not entirely sure myself, honestly. Maybe it was something I said, but Chitose is never more than polite to me anymore."

Chi's expression became concerned. "Can we help?"

"Don't worry about it," the doctor waved away her concerns, "It's an old and stupid grudge, no reason for the two of you to be pulled into it."

The doctor seemed to be holding something back, but Hideki did not want to pry any farther than he already had. He chose a third cookie.

Yuzuki was nowhere to be found when they arrived; one of the maid persocoms let them in and guided them toward the lounge. Hideki wondered how he was going to once again prevent Chi's reunion with Freya, but Chi remedied the situation right away. She skipped away up the stairs after removing her shoes.

She called back down to Hideki. "Ms. Yuzuki said I should go upstairs next time! She said she wants to make something for Chi."

"Okay," Hideki replied, trying to hide his relief. "You two have fun!"

Shinbo and Kojima were already there by the time they arrived. The three young men had opened Freya's abdomen, and were seemingly arguing about the identity of certain components. A printout of the diagram Kotoko had made was spread over the table.

Kojima laughed and shook his head, responding to a comment Hideki had not heard. "Layers of cryptography all the way down to the hardware level. No wonder Chi's so hard to hack."

"This is looking like it'll be much harder than we thought," Minoru commented. "Asking the BBS for help would probably be best."

"This is going to take longer than we thought," Shinbo commented, "Even with help."

"You know," Kojima commented, "you should really set up a proper operating theatre, M. It's a bad idea to just keep building persocoms in your lounge."

"I don't normally make a habit of this," Minoru pointed out, "Unlike you I don't just build a dozen 'coms when I can upgrade the ones I have. Although I suppose you're right. Doing this in the lounge is rather morbid."

Hideki cleared his throat. "We're here."

All three of their heads turned in surprise as he spoke. Shinbo, at the very least, looked pleased to see him, smiling and waving.

Minoru approached them. "Glad you could make it again."

Hideki gestured to his companion. "I hope you don't mind, but I brought a guest."

"Dr. Suzuhara," The young man greeted her with a hint of surprise. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

"Sorry for intruding," she began, "I had to deliver something to Mr. Motosuwa, and he told me about your project and I was interested."

Minoru motioned to the table. "By all means, take a look. By the way, this is Shinbo Hiromu and Kojima Yoshiyuki."

She gave a short bow to the indicated young men. "Nice to meet you."

Hideki let Sumomo and Kotoko out of his bag as the introductions were completed. Sumomo once again bounded over to her old master, while Kotoko perched herself on the edge of Freya's gurney.

Dr. Suzuhara leaned in close to examine the deactivated persocom. "So tell me, what are your plans for her? Just to get her working, or do a proper restoration?"

"I guess you could call it reverse-engineering," Minoru replied. "Hideki has her sister, and we want to make sure we know how she works, what with all the custom hardware she has." He shrugged. "beyond that, I'd say a restoration would be preferable."

Her demeanor immediately became focused, speaking with decisiveness in her voice. "In that case, we could start by repairing and replacing her peripherals. They'll probably be easier than the core systems."

"They're a bit labyrinthine," Minoru replied apologetically, "It's been giving us some trouble."

Dr. Suzuhara Bent down over the gurney, producing her penlight and shining it into Freya's abdominal cavity. She barely glanced inside the persocom before straightening back up. Withdrawing a notebook from her pocket, she began to frantically scribble line after line of text. None of them dared interrupt her, afraid they would break her concentration.

All the while she was writing she muttered to herself. "Dammit Icchan, still giving me extra work, even from beyond the grave. This is the last time, you hear me, the absolute last time." Two minutes passed before the woman tore off several sheets and handed them to the others. "Right, this is a list of everything you'll need for the peripheral systems."

Hideki glanced at it curiously. The list was extensive, filling both sides of three notebook sheets. Most were long strings of letters and numbers, what he assumed were the names of chips and other components. A few were actual words, but even these were incomprehensible to him.

Kojima gave the doctor a doubtful look. "Microcontrollers out of four Angel dolls?"

"Is there a problem with that?" she asked in a tone which dared him to challenge her.

Perhaps it was simply surprise, but Kojima was instantly compliant. "No ma'am, no problem. It's just a little unusual."

"I learned to make persocoms from the greatest mind of the last hundred years," she replied, "Yes, it may seem unconventional, and yes it might be better to use more modern, purpose-built components. But if you want to do a proper restoration, you can't just do things halfway. You have to stay true to how she was made, right down every smallest detail."

There was no mistaking the passion in the woman's voice, enough that all of them fell silent. None of them dared reply.

The doctor picked up her penlight and crouched down, looking into Freya's internals once again. "Meanwhile, let's see if we can unseat the boards of her core system, and maybe start de-soldering the damaged chips. Do you have gloves and wristbands?"

Kojima jumped into action, immediately finding and handing over the requested items. "It's looking like we'll have to replace almost all of her parts," he commented, "that's going to take a long time."

"At that point is she even the same persocom, though?" Shinbo mused.

Dr. Suzuhara did not look up from her work. "I won't get into a Ship of Theseus argument with you right now," she replied. "But you bring up a very good point. There's going to be very little left of the original Freya by the time we're finished."

Minoru frowned. "I don't recall ever mentioning her name."

Hideki finally made the connection. "You knew Ms. Hibiya when you worked together at Piffle Princess. That means you must have known her husband."

She nodded. "That's right. Ichhan was a close friend of mine, actually."

piece by piece, the full picture came together for him. "And you said that you've been building persocoms almost as long as they've existed. Does that mean you helped him create Freya and Elda?

The doctor laughed. "'Helped' is too strong a word. That would imply I had any input at all. Mostly what happened was him calling me in the middle of the night and shouting his ideas. I told him which ones sounded like they would work and which ones would not." She traced a line along Freya's jaw. "I was a _little_ more involved a few years later with Elda, but most of the time I was just putting components where he told me. It's how I learned to make Persocoms."

Kojima looked at the doctor with a newfound respect—almost admiration. "You learned from the maker of the Chobits." He shook his head. "I don't believe it, you actually _learned_ from him."

At that moment, the door of the room opened. Yuzuki entered the room and gave a short bow. "Sorry I'm late, master Minoru."

There was a loud clattering and all of them turned to Dr. Suzuhara. The woman had dropped everything she had been holding and was staring at Yuzuki in shock, one hand over her mouth.

"Is something wrong, miss?" Yuzuki's expression was confused.

Dr. Suzuhara did not reply. She glanced to Minoru with a sudden realization. "I wondered why you seemed familiar! You've changed so much, but I guess you were only ten at the time. I'd completely forgotten your family names weren't the same."

"Excuse me?" Minoru said, "I'm afraid I don't understand you."

After a moment, the doctor managed to regain some of her composure. "I knew Kaede," she explained. "My daughter was her friend. Maybe you remember Misaki?"

the young man frowned, then after a moment, his eyes brightened. "I _do_ remember you now," Minoru suddenly realized, "You came to visit her in the hospital. I'm sorry, I'd completely forgotten you."

"You were much younger at the time," she replied, "And you weren't in the best state of mind."

She smiled apologetically to Yuzuki. "I'm sorry, dear, your appearance startled me is all. It was like seeing a ghost."

"No trouble at all," the persocom waved away her concerns. "I'm sorry my appearance startled you."

"In either case," Kojima interjected, "Now that we've figured out who's who, we should get back to work."

Another hour passed, with the analysis continuing under Dr. Suzuhara's guidance. She was able to correct a number of errors on their diagram, and explain the purposes of certain components which had remained mysterious before. Kojima seemed particularly eager to help, hanging on her every word. For his part, Hideki was lost before they had even started. He thought he really should learn about how to repair persocoms, or at least take a computer science course so he could follow his friends' discussions.

Yuzuki brought tea for them before asking to be excused once again. Both Minoru and Hideki watched her go with concern. There still seemed to be no explanation for her sudden and unconnected variety of interests. He remembered Dr. Suzuhara's comment, about never seeing a persocom act wildly out of character, and wondered what had sparked this sudden set of hobbies.

Finally checking the time, the doctor wiped her hands on the edge of the gurney.

"I really should get going," she announced. "No doubt I'll be facing a ward full of minor injuries by now, and I'll have to fix them all."

"Thanks for all your help!" Shinbo replied, "You probably saved us about six months of trial and error."

A slight smile curled the corners of the woman's mouth. "You can thank me after we're done restoring this little darling, assuming we can make her run again." With that, she bowed and left.

"Who is that woman?" Kojima asked as the door closed. The edge of reverence had crept into his voice again.

"Dr. Suzuhara is the chief technical designer and cybernetic engineer at Yanaha Cybernetics," Minoru explained, "She's responsible for their construction as well." He gave a wry smile. "What's the matter, are you falling for the good doctor? I didn't know you were into older women."

"Nothing like that!" Kojima denied. "She was taught how to make persocoms from their own inventor, and seems to be a master of the craft in her own right. There are so many things I could learn from her is all."

"I hope you're not planning on kidnapping any of her persocoms to find out," Hideki commented.

Kojima took the jab with a chuckle. "And be beaten to death by angry fans? No thanks!"


	14. Track 14: Rolling Girl

Track 14: Rolling Girl

The night of the concert had finally arrived. After all the anticipation, all of the waiting, it was finally time.

Yuzuki's gift to Chi turned out to be a Yukata: pale pink with a pattern of cherries. It seemed to be hand-stitched, and was quite cute when Chi tried it on. She had asked to wear it to the concert, and Hideki had not found the heart to refuse, despite it being an odd choice. Hideki was not sure what proper concert attire was. He did not own many nice clothes of his own beside what he wore to university. Finally deciding he would probably feel under-dressed no matter what, he settled on T shirt and jeans.

They met outside of Chiroru bakery just as the others were closing up. Hideki's eyes went wide when he caught sight of Yumi. The young woman wore a green wig, with a pair of white and red goggles perched atop it. That, along with the general color scheme told him she was supposed to be dressed as Gumi. But Yumi was showing a great deal of bare skin, far more than he was used to seeing of her. The short green top seemed more like a sports bra than a shirt, barely enough to cover her ample breasts. Over top of this was a long sleeve orange jacket which covered a little more, but she had left the front open. Green shorts were held up with suspenders, and orange boots reached to above her knees.

"Umm, Yumi, what's with the outfit?" Hideki asked.

"It's my Gumi cosplay!" she replied. "I made it back when she had her V3 clothes. Haven't had time to make an updated version yet."

"I see that," he replied, "Why are you going in costume?"

"Lots of people go this way," Hiro commented as he dropped the shop keys into his pocket. "You'll see when we get there." Suddenly noticing Chi's clothing, he added. "that's a cute Yukata, Chi. Where did you get it?"

Chi twirled, showing off the garment from all angles. "Yuzuki made it for me!"

Yumi thought for a minute. "Mr. Kokubunji's persocom?"

"Yeah," Hideki replied, "Minoru says she's been acting really weird lately. Seems to be taking up a lot of random hobbies out of nowhere."

Hiro appraised the Yukata. "Well, you can't argue with the result in this case."

Yumi's watch alarm went off. "That's the first alarm," she said. "We're all set here. If you two are ready, we should get going or we'll be late for the train."

Hideki thought he would feel embarrassed on the train, sitting between a persocom in a Yukata and Yumi in her extremely revealing cosplay. As he looked around, however, he noticed the two girls were not the only ones dressed in strange clothing. He could see no fewer than three separate people dressed in brightly colored clothing and wigs, and that number only rose as they approached their destination. By the time they walked into the parking lot of the concert hall, it was Hideki who felt out of place dressed in his everyday attire. Even Chi's outfit did not seem entirely out of place.

They passed through a lavish lobby and up a red carpeted staircase. The space was crowded with hundreds of people, all pressing toward the doors to the theatre. The staff, a mix of human and persocoms both in red vests, herded this mass into a more orderly channel, ending in a line of persocoms who were taking tickets. The four of them pressed forward through the crowd, eagerly awaiting their turn.

The ticket collector persocom glanced at their passes and motioned to their right. "Section A. down the stairs, continue until you reach the bottom."

Hideki nodded to the usher. "Thanks!"

"Of course, sir," the persocom replied, "please enjoy the show."

They emerged onto the bottom floor of a large theatre and followed the gently sloping aisle downward. Above their head was a balcony and, looking back once they were clear, another two above that one. It was a model of efficiency; room to accommodate more than a thousand people in as compact of a floor plan as possible.

"Wow," Yumi exclaimed. "I've never had ground floor seating before!"

Hideki had never been to such a large concert. "Is it really that unusual?"

"Usually we're stuck up on the top balcony," Hiro explained, "it's the only place with affordable seating. Everything else is over ten thousand yen."

They continued down the aisle. The next usher they met waved them forward, even closer to the stage.

"How close are we going to be?" Yumi asked

Hideki checked the seat listed on his pass. "Row four, I think?"

She shook her head in disbelief. "Who do you know that can get you such good seating?"

"Miku said she was going to get us VIP passes," he replied shrugging. "I didn't expect them to be _that_ VIP, though."

Yumi stopped dead in the aisle, mouth agape. "No way! _You_ know _Hatsune Miku_?"

Chi tilted her head. "The persocom on the TV?"

Hideki nodded. "She's been helping me with my job."

Yumi laughed. "I'm getting more and more jealous all the time."

Placed atop each of their seats was a small bag with an LED light stick poking out of its top. Glancing through, he found a collection of souvenirs, snacks, and a bottle of water.

"Complimentary gifts in VIP," Hiro commented, "If only we could afford these tickets all the time."

Light sticks flicked on all around them as they settled into their seats. The four of them followed suit, each of their light sticks glowing a bright neon green.

After almost twenty minutes of waiting the house lights dimmed, leaving the audience a sea of glowing sticks. Hideki was deafened as the crowd cheered around him, covering all other noises buried beneath the wave of sound. Music swelled from tower speakers to either side of the stage. As the volume reached full force, Hideki could feel the waves of bass pass through him like a second heartbeat.

A single spotlight snapped on, revealing a teal haired figure now very familiar to Hideki. At the same instant a screen above her activated, showing a larger view of the stage for those too far away to see. Miku's outfit was the same as it always was, but with the addition of a black and red headset.

It was strange seeing her onstage, so far away. Every time he had encountered her she had been up close, someone immediate he could talk to and who would talk directly back. It had slipped his mind that she actually was a pop idol, and that most people encountered her like this.

Miku's singing was even better in person than it had been on TV. There was still an element which was not _quite_ human to it, but was beautiful nonetheless. Her voice had character; it somehow managed to express her personality. It did not take much imagination to believe he was listening to a real teenage girl, singing her heart out for the audience.

She seemed to trail off, and the music began to fade. The crowd hushed in anticipation.

Suddenly, six fountains of sparks erupted, almost blindingly bright. When they cleared, Miku was flanked by an ensemble of other Vocaloids. Hideki recognized each, having seen them up close during his time at Yanaha, and began to put names to faces. The blonde twins, Rin and Len, stood to one side, with Kaito next to them. The violet-haired samurai, Gack, stood opposite, with Gumi and a pink-haired girl he identified as Luka. The light onstage rose. Two more screens, flanking the first, activated, showing different views. As the music began to pulse once again, All of the performers began to sing

One Vocaloid had been impressive enough, but seven together was something else entirely. The careful interplay of different parts, one leading into another, was executed flawlessly. None of them was off by even a fraction of a second, nor were any of them off-key. The song showcased each of their voices, not relegating any of them to backup vocals. Their choreography, too, was perfect, each motion expertly timed in sync with the others'.

Hideki glanced over to Chi. She was standing, transfixed by the music, her mouth hanging ever so slightly open. Hideki placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to startle. When she turned to him, her eyes were sparkling and a wide smile crossed her face. Hideki beamed back. Here they were, together, enjoying themselves. That was the best part: that they were there _together_.

The atmosphere around them was thick with emotion. Hideki let himself be carried away by it. He raised both fists, light stick in one hand, and cheering at the top of his lungs. His own voice seemed somehow disconnected from him, becoming part of the living crowd. Beside him Chi followed suit, waving her light stick.

He understood now, or at least he thought he did. This was what the Vocaloids lived for, why even human musicians endured endless tedious hours of work, demands from a company which saw them as products, and who knew what else. It was this excitement they had the power to create in other people: the cheers and adoration as they did exactly what they had been brought into the world to do. Programmed to feel that way or not, it must be real to them.

The end of the first song was met with thunderous applause. As it died down, Miku stepped forward. "Is everyone having a good time tonight?" Her voice echoed through the speakers to the back of the hall.

The Audience responded with more cheers.

"We have some great songs ready for you," she continued. "We hope you like them!"

The second song began, with several of the other Vocaloids disappearing backstage. It was met with much the same reception as the first. Hideki was convinced that he would be deaf for the next week once the concert ended.

Miku was absent for the third and fourth songs, the first was sung by Luka, the next by Rin and Len. When Miku returned, her outfit was completely different: a black dress trimmed with lace, with long black gloves and thigh-length stockings. Her headset was different as well, sporting a pair of pink butterfly wings. Luka entered from the opposite side, dressed almost identically but with teal butterfly wings on her headset.

The sound of waves and a piano emerged from the speakers. The crowd screamed with excitement after three notes.

As the two performers began to sing, it took Hideki a moment to realize that it was a love song. Its lyrics were about feeling an attraction neither of them could fight against. Hideki wished he knew more about the Vocaloids' music, at least so he could put names to each of the songs. Judging from the crowd's reaction, this was a fan favorite.

Yumi clung to Hiro as the baker wrapped his arm around her. To Hideki's side, he felt Chi squeeze his hand. She was still transfixed by the performance, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she drank in every detail.

Over the next few songs the singers continued to alternate, sometimes giving solo performances, sometimes in pairs or groups. Each time one returned to the stage, they seemed to be in a different outfit. The final song of the first set was a solo for Miku. The melody was simple, but the lyrics were a rapidfire string of words, almost too fast for him to understand. The chorus was a slower, more intelligible pace, only to return to the high-speed singing on each verse. Once again, the Vocaloid seemed to make no mistakes, never tripping over her own singing. Hideki was astonished. The song seemed to have been written to show off what she could do because of what she was; he doubted any human singer could have accomplished it. Finally, with one last chord, the song ended.

Amidst the cheers and claps, Miku spoke again. "Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience. We'll be right back with more after intermission. Hope to see you then!"

As the house lights rose once again, the feeling of energy faded, leaving Hideki feeling pleasantly numb. It took a moment before he could think clearly enough to move. With a quick stretch, he looked around at the others. Hiro was stretching as well, and Yumi seemed to still be coming out of some sort of trance.

Chi was practically radiant. "I want to hear more! Can they sing everything again?"

"They'll probably play different songs next," Hideki replied, "But if you get one of their albums, you can listen to them as many times as you want."

"There's a place in the lobby which sells T Shirts and CDs," Hiro offered.

Chi jumped up, smiling. "Chi is going to buy a CD!

Hideki called after her. "Do you need money to pay for it?" He was not sure what outrageous prices the concert hall would be selling albums for, probably too much. But if it was for Chi, he did not mind.

"Chi has money!" she called back. "Don't worry!"

Hiro stood up to follow. "I might as well go with her. I need to use the restroom, and I might pick up some more snacks."

Looking back much later, Hideki could only describe what happened next as a cosmic coincidence. As Chi and Hiro disappeared into the crowd, Hideki saw a door open at the side of the stage opened and a teal head poked out. It was less than twenty feet away, close enough to see everyone in his row. As she caught Hideki's eye, her mouth split into a smile and she eagerly beckoned him. Curious, Hideki rose and walked over.

Yumi rushed after him. "Where are you going?"

"I thought I saw someone I know over here," he replied over his shoulder.

The door was black steel, with the words "cast and crew only" emblazoned in red. Not sure what to do, Hideki knocked. It opened a small crack, then all the way as Hideki was pulled inside by the front of his shirt, Yumi following immediately after.

The hallway beyond was dark and narrow, lit in a shade of blue. Miku was alone there, once again in her normal outfit. The blue illumination seemed to play tricks, however; her hair and eyes seemed more of a cobalt shade and, strangely, the black fabric of her skirt became a shade of maroon.

"You did come to see the show!" she exclaimed. "I can't really see anything up there past the second row, so I couldn't be sure."

Hideki straightened his collar. "I said we were planning to go, didn't I?"

"Well yes, but I still couldn't see you." Miku looked at Yumi suspiciously. "Who is this?"

"This is Yumi," he replied, "she and her boyfriend are close friends of mine."

"I see." The Vocaloid seemed to relax, becoming much friendlier toward Yumi. "Well, it's nice to meet one of Hideki's friends. I hope you're enjoying the concert."

The young woman was star struck. She blurted out, "H-Hi I'm Yumi! N-Nice to meet you!"

Miku chuckled, clearly used to this reaction. "I hope the concert's to your liking."

"Y-Yes, everything is amazing!" she replied, still clearly dazzled by being so close to one of her idols.

Miku beamed, then asked. "Where are your other two friends? Hideki asked for four passes."

"They're out in the lobby right now," Hideki replied.

"I'd like to meet them at some point," she said, "But I doubt they'd get back in time. It's too bad we have to leave pretty much right away after the show."

"Shouldn't you be resting, or getting ready for after intermission?" he asked.

Miku waved dismissively. "The stage crew's getting things prepped for the next set. We've got a few minutes before they need us again."

Hideki heard the scrambling of what sounded like rats above them. He looked up to see a small catwalk running the length of the hall, with several miniature black-clad figures disappearing into the distance.

He pointed upward "What was that?"

"Crew laptops," Miku replied. "Great for getting into tiny places, fixing things on the fly, and carrying small props from place to place. Modern theaters couldn't work without them."

Two figures approached behind her.

The shorter of the two said, "So this is where you've gone off to, Miku."

Hideki finally recognized them in the bluish light. "Kaito. It's good to see you again."

The blue-haired persocom gave a friendly wave. "Mr. Motosuwa, right? It's been a while."

Kaito's companion, Gack, noticed the third member of their group. "Might I ask who your charming companion is?"

Yumi blushed a dark color indistinguishable in the blue lighting. "Oh, I, buh…" she looked like she was on the verge of fainting.

"Her name is Yumi," Hideki said for her.

The purple-haired Vocaloid had an almost hypnotic smile. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Yumi."

Yumi had regressed into a starstruck tween, unable to make an intelligible sound.

Kaito continued to Hideki. "How is your investigation going?"

"Slow, but moving forward," Hideki replied.

Kaito glanced over to Yumi, clearly calculating how much he should say. "That's good. I appreciate you putting forth such an effort for one of us."

"It's no trouble," Hideki replied, "Honestly, I'm sorry I haven't made more progress."

"Well, it's more than most would do for us, he reassured. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." He turned to Yumi. "So, Ms. Yumi. What do you do?"

"I-I work at Chororu," she sputtered, "It's a bakery."

"A baker," Gack commented, "a most artistic profession, though one we are, unfortunately, ill-equipped to appreciate."

Through the door, Hideki could hear them playing music during the intermission. Hideki heard Yumi humming along beside him, apparently thinking none of them could hear her.

"Hey, that's pretty good," Kaito said.

Yumi immediately stopped humming. "oh, no, not really. I'm barely good enough for when Hiro and I do a karaoke night. Yous see, it's...I...um..." She was rapidly falling back into incoherence.

Gack smiled and bowed to her. "This 'Hiro' is a lucky man to have the heart of such a lady."

Yumi blushed even more furiously.

From somewhere within the darkened corners of the hallway, a speaker came to life. "Five minutes to places."

"That's our cue to head out," Kaito announced.

"Already?" Miku's voice was almost a whine.

"We don't want to keep everyone waiting," Kaito pointed out. "They can't start without all of us, and the concert has to go on."

she sighed. "Okay." there was great reluctance in her voice.

"We should also get back to our seats," Hideki added.

Miku smiled. "Enjoy the rest of the show. I hope I'll see you soon!"

Hideki and Yumi reached to their seats just as Chi and Hiro returned.

Chi held up a small bag. "Chi made a mistake. She bought four CDs, not one."

Hideki patted her on the head. "You were just excited by the concert. Don't worry about it!"

He tried to remember if he had a CD player, and decided to check when he returned home.

"You'll never guess who we just met!" Yumi exclaimed. "Miku, Kaito, _and_ Gack!"

Hiro glanced incredulously to the two of them. "How?"

"They called me over," Hideki explained, "I've met them all before, they're very nice."

"One of these days, you're going to have to introduce us all," he said.

"I would like to meet them too," Chi added, "They seems so nice and happy!"

"I'm not sure when I'll get the chance, but sure!" Hideki replied.

A few minutes later, the lights dimmed again as intermission ended. The second set was, if possible, even better than the first. Hideki let himself be carried away by the excitement once again, most of the evening passing in a blur. Next to him, Chi alternated between gripping his arm, cheering, and staring transfixed at the stage. Several songs in, Hideki glanced over to see tears running down Yumi's face.

Over the noise of the crowd and music, he managed to shout, "Yumi, are you crying?"

She wiped her eyes, looking down in surprise at the wet streaks which were left on her hand. "I guess. I-I was just so caught up in everything," she sobbed, "being here so close, meeting them in person."

Hideki could not help but smile. Yumi might have reached her twenties, she might act mature and responsible, but at heart she was a fangirl.

The rest of the night wore on much the same. By the time the concert ended, all of them were drained and numb. On the train ride back, Yumi fell asleep on Hiro's shoulder, her wig slipping to the side and revealing her own black locks. Hiro smiled over to Hideki but said nothing, not wanting to disturb her.

Hideki looked down as Chi rested her head against his shoulder. Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling. "Hideki…I'm so happy!"


	15. Track 15:Intracerebral Synapse Rebellion

Track 15: Intracerebral Synapse Rebellion

Chi lay on her back, hands folded across her stomach. A secondhand CD player was next to her, its chord connected to Chi's audio input. The disk inside spun, playing one of her new Vocaloid albums, its case discarded. Beside her, Hideki was spread-eagled on the floor, staring up at the ceiling light. His textbooks were scattered haphazardly around him, all discarded for the moment. Sumomo and Kotoko sat side by side atop the TV, the latter's eyes glazed over as she processed data for some unknown program.

It was early evening, the sun just beginning to go down. There was plenty of time left for studying, but Hideki could not force himself to focus on any of it. The last few weeks had left him with a great deal to think about. His mind ran in circles, raising questions he felt unequipped to answer.

Lola. Why had she run off, and where had she gone? She could be anywhere in the world, really, but it was his job to find her. He remembered what it had been like in the concert, that feeling of exhilaration, that power Miku and the others had over them. She had given that all up.

Vocaloids. Dr. Suzuhara had learned from the man who invented persocoms, even helping in Elda's—Chi's—construction. Undertaker's comment about "music between the notes" made sense now, knowing the connection. The doctor had built them with the same knowledge and attention to detail. Did that make Miku and all the other Vocaloids Chobits? They certainly had that same humanlike quality, but were not _exactly_ the same. How should he class them then?

Persocoms. Computers designed to look, speak, and act like humans. If all they did was follow their programming, why then would one run away? A rice cooker or a Rhoomba did not try to escape, no matter how badly they were treated. No, Percocoms were far more than those simple machines, right? They were so much like people. Androids originally made to give a barren woman the daughters she always wanted. Did that make all of them children?

Vocaloids again. Dr. Suzuhara had said people made mistakes, sometimes even with how they raised their children. Had she speaking from experience? She had a daughter, one she had trouble relating to—had possibly alienated. Was that why she had begun creating the Vocaloids? All of them called her "mother."

Back to Lola. By now she would probably have a new body. Would Hideki even recognize her if he met her in the street, or at a club? Almost any persocom he met could be her. It could even be an older model she had invaded. Would she be cruel enough to erase another in order to save herself?

Hideki felt something poke his cheek. He glanced over to see Chi giving him a concerned look.

"You're frowning."

He forced a smile back onto his face. "Sorry, I'm just thinking about this job I'm doing for Yanaha."

"Problems with your job?"

He pulled himself into a seated position. "I'm trying to figure out why I'm convinced Lola is still in Tokyo. There's no reason she should be, but I get the sense she wouldn't want to leave if she could help it. Call it intuition."

Chi stared blankly back at him, a vague smile on her face.

He chuckled nervously. "Sorry, this probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you."

She shook her head. "No, but it seems important to you."

That was one of the things Hideki loved about Chi. Even if she did not understand, even if there was no chance of her being able to help, she always tried. It never failed to bring a smile to his face. "Thanks, Chi!"

Of course, she knew nothing about his job; he had kept her out of it. It was not something she needed to be involved in; at best, there was little she could do to help, and at worst he could be exposing her to a dark underworld he did not understand. Even if she was not physically hurt or damaged, he did not know what effect it would have on her.

What he needed to do was talk to someone who knew about the situation. For a moment he considered calling up Minoru, but decided against it. The younger man had enough to worry about in the investigation without Hideki dumping more on him. Yuzuki would be with her master, and he did not know Dr. Suzuhara's number. That just left one person—well, in a manner of speaking.

Hideki turned to the miniature persocoms seated atop the TV. "Where do you think she's gone, Kotoko?

Kotoko's eyes refocused. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked where you thought Lola had gone," Hideki reiterated.

"Oh." She uncrossed her legs and moved forward on her seat. "There's insufficient data to draw conclusions. We still don't know _why_ she ran away. I have a theory as to _how_ , but I would have to access Yanaha's LAN directly by Ethernet in order to investigate." Her eyes unfocused once more as she fell silent.

It was not like Kotoko to be so distracted. Curious, Hideki asked. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at laptop parts," she replied.

That made him raise his eyebrow. "Why? Is something wrong with you?"

Kotoko crossed her arms and looked away. "Never mind, you couldn't afford any of them anyway."

Hideki was not about to give up that easily. "Look, I might not know a lot about how to fix persocoms, or how to work with them even. But if something's wrong, I want to help."

Reluctantly, the miniature persocom leapt down from her perch and plugged herself into the TV. The webpage which appeared displayed a brand new, top of the line CPU, with a table listing its specs. The price tag made Hideki's head swim; it alone was as expensive as some brand new computers.

The miniature persocom pointed to the screen. "These! I want these in both of my motherboard's CPU sockets!"

"Why do you want brand new CPUs?"

"There are already laptops reaching my level of processing power," she explained. "My value is draining away by the day. Another three, four years, and no one will want me, Master Kojima especially. I'll be an obsolete piece of garbage, too out of date even for people who need a basic machine. If I wasn't custom made maybe a collector would want me, but as it stands there's no chance."

"What do you mean if you weren't a custom?"

Kotoko quickly opened a new page, this one advertising laptop persocoms. Each was dressed in black business clothing, with black hair and red eyes. Red and black text at the top listed a brand name.

Hideki turned to her with a quizzical look. "Lemovo Thinksprites?"

"Frumpy little business machines," she replied, "Durable and fairly powerful as laptops go, but designed for function first and form second, without too many addons. Yet people love them—they even _collect_ them! It doesn't matter if they're brand new or ten years old, people will buy them for pretty decent prices." She sat down, crossing her arms and legs. "No collector wants a 'com cobbled together in someone's garage. If I want to stay useful to anyone, I need a rebuild. A new pair of CPUs, new ram, graphics card, sound card, and probably new hard drives. Upgrade my OS, update my firmware, everything."

Hideki was not sure what to say. The idea of a persocom wanting to so drastically alter herself did not sit well with him. Then again, he had never been faced with his own obsolescence. He reached out and patted her on the head.

She glared at him. "What are you doing?"

" _I'd_ still want you here. It wouldn't matter if you were out of date or not."

"Some consolation," she grumbled. But her blush simulators had activated.

Hideki's mind turned back to their investigation. He needed to know more about the underworld he was getting involved in. Minoru had said something about a news network for that. What had it been called again?

"Could you look up Channel 23 for me?" he asked.

Kotoko switched to a search engine and immediately showed a list of results.

"Which one is the underground news network?" he asked.

The miniature persocom pulled up the third link, showing a black webpage. It was almost completely featureless, save a navigation bar at the top and a video window in the center. After a moment, the page finished loading and a livestream began to play.

A persocom stood in front of an abstract pattern of moving lines. His hair was slicked back and rigid, looking as if it had been sculpted into place. There was something strangely plastic about his whole appearance, more like a department store mannequin than a persocom. Occasionally he spasmed and twitched, seeming to lock into some sort of loop. Hideki wondered why anyone would choose him as a news reporter.

"The other day, someone came up to me and said 'Max, you're s-s-s-s-shorting out,' and I said 'no I'm not, I'm just as tall as I've always been!'" someone off-camera groaned. The persocom turned stiffly. "hey, don't look at me, I didn't write it."

After a moment, the persocom's attention returned to the camera. "it's time for t-tonight's Utauloid highlights, starting with everyone's favorite venue, Club Mercer. The most anticipated act is a lovely- lovely- lovely- lovely new singer making her debut. So if you're in the mood to hear some fre-fre-fresh talent, feel free to stop by around, say, seven or eight. While you're there, make sure to c-c-catch the wave with a refreshing glass of new coke!"

The persocom laughed insanely, his vocal processor rising in pitch until it was no more than a shrill shrieking. Then, abruptly, he returned to his more professional manner. "A lot of favorites at the All Electric String Octet. Ryone Yami,-Ryone Yami,-Ryone Yami, Kane Tomo, Tree, the list goes on. If you're looking for the most artists for your money, well you should be staying-ing home and watching the streams in that case, but if you want to get out of your house, actually go somewhere and interact with people, AESO is your best bet tonight. You weirdo"

The persocom continued in much the same way for another five minutes, listing off venues and performers. The names meant nothing to Hideki, passing by in a blur. Finally, the robotic news reporter concluded, "broadcasting live from twenty minutes into the future, this is Ma-Ma-Max Headroom-m…Max Headroom reporting. Channel 23. Now a word from our sponsors."

The video switched to an advertisement for "Public terminals, rented by the hour. Any size, any shape you want. Let your fantasies run wild!"

Hideki tuned it out. His thoughts returned to Club Mercer. If Lola was a Vocaloid, she would find a place she could perform; the love of that was written into her character. He had absolutely no evidence, not even a definite theory. Perhaps he should just let go of his suspicion and leave drawing conclusions to Minoru. No, he had to prove to himself that he was not wrong. There was something important at Club Mercer, something he had missed, or that he had picked up on without consciously realizing it.

He rose from his seat, pushing aside textbooks as he dressed.

Chi looked up at him curiously. "Hideki? Where are you going?"

He pulled on his coat. "I just need to head out for a bit. I have a theory for my investigation, and I want to check up on it."

"Would you like me to go with you?" Kotoko asked.

"That's alright," he replied. "It's probably nothing anyway." He grabbed his shoes from beside the door, slipping them on. "I should be back by nine or ten at the latest."

"Hideki?" He looked back to see Chi. She seemed worried. "Be safe, ok?"


	16. Track 16: Party Junkie

Track 16: Party Junkie

A low-pitched shrieking greeted Hideki as he passed through the entrance to Club Mercer once again. The persocom onstage was shaped like a boy of fourteen or fifteen, with blonde hair, buck teeth, and luminous cyan eyes. He was the source of the shrieking, apparently. His voice was distorted and barely intelligible, as if he were being broadcast trough an old telephone handset. As he had with the news broadcaster, Hideki wondered why anyone would choose this particular performer.

Catching sight of Hideki, Calandra approached him. "Hey there again! What can I do for you?"

"I heard that there would be a new singer tonight," Hideki replied. He gestured to the person onstage. "Is that the one?"

The siren laughed. "Oh no, he's one of our regulars."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong with his voice?

"No," she replied. "That's just what happens when you build an Utauloid and don't replace the stock sound card."

Still confused, he asked, "Why would someone go out of their way to buy an Utau kit, then not use all of the parts?"

She ruffled her feathers. "Look around here for a bit. You'll figure it out eventually."

He returned to the original subject. "So where is this new performer then?"

"She's set to go on as the next act," the siren replied. "Take a seat for a few minutes, she should be up soon. Can I get you anything to drink in the meantime?"

He nodded. "A beer, thanks."

Hideki settled down at the bar, its luminous surface casting strange patterns of light and shadow across his body. One of the drink dispenser persocoms approached, providing him with the beverage he had ordered. The bartender passed by: a persocom with clusters of steel, spiderlike limbs sprouting from where his arms should have been. Six of the eight limbs were wiping down the bar while the remaining two gripped a cocktail shaker. Hideki could not see below his waist, but he heard the clacking of steel points against the floor, which suggested more spider-limbs in place of legs.

Even the bartender was a modified persocom here. Come to think of it, he had not seen a single human staff member besides the bouncer and the host who announced each performance, and the low lighting made even those dubious. Did they only employ persocoms? Hideki made a mental note to ask Minoru about the club next time they met.

A voice spoke up from next to his hip. "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Hideki gawked at what had just walked up next to him. The persocom appeared to be a stylized version of Hatsune Miku's head, lacking any body. In place of Miku's twintails, a pair of teal legs were attached to either side, ending in defined toes. It looked like something out of a dream, or a gag comic, strange even by the standards of what he had seen in the club.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

Hideki came to his senses "N-no, nothing's wrong. Go ahead, take a seat!"

The strange persocom hopped up onto the stool next to him where it crouched, keeping its head level with the bar. The bartender glided over to them and greeted the newcomer.

"Ah, Shiteyanyo! The usual?"

"Make it a double," the strange Persocom replied, "on my tab."

He scuttled away, then returned with a flash drive clutched between two of his limbs. The device was a matte black, with the words "Club Mercer" stamped into its surface in fluorescent paint. With a dexterity Hideki would not have expected, the bartender plugged it into a USB port on the back of Shiteyanyo's head.

The seat to Hideki's other side was empty, but the one just beyond had a white-haired persocom slumped over the bar. A USB hub snaked out of her external ports, with eight more of the club-branded flash drives filling its connections.

"I was supposed to be a star," she mumbled, voice barely understandable.

"Looks like Ms. Yowane's had enough," Shiteyanyo commented from Hideki's other side.

"I cut her off over an hour ago," the bartender replied, "I'm hoping she hasn't bypassed our copy protection and duplicated it. No one should be running more than eight Slods at once, her especially."

A woman in a long trenchcoat slid into the seat next to Hideki. From this close of a distance, he could see that she, at least, was human.

Sizing Hideki up, she said, "Don't see many people come here alone, without even a persocom for company. Looking for a night with a public terminal? I rent them real cheap."

Hideki was taken aback. "What?"

"Whatever type of girl you want, I've got a 'com that'll suit you," she continued. "If you want a private space here that's included, or you could come back to our offices, where we have special rooms set up."

Hideki could barely believe the woman was asking what he thought she was. The surprise was such that he could not figure out how to respond, let alone make his mouth form coherent words.

After almost ten seconds, he managed to stammer, "I'm not interested."

The woman was insistant. "We also have men if that's what you're into. No shame in that. All of it's perfectly legal."

He tried his best to not become flustered again. "S-sorry, I really did just come here for music and beer."

Disappointment flashed through her eyes. After a moment, she withdrew a small business card and slid it towards him. "Well, here's my card if you change your mind. Really, you won't find a better deal anywhere." She rose and merged into the crowd.

Hideki took another long draught of his beer, trying to calm himself down. Really, it was something he should have expected. With Undertaker willing to meet clients at the club, other unsavory businesses were bound to do the same. Prostitution was still illegal in japan, although there were a great many loopholes in how the laws were written. One of which was that they, apparently, did not cover persocoms.

The singer with the distorted voice finished his song, receiving thunderous applause. He bowed, and without another word left the stage. If Calandra was right, it was time for the mysterious new singer to perform. Hideki turned his attention in that direction, eager to see who, or what, would take the stage. The host from before climbed back onto the stage.

Hideki studied the man, trying to determine if he was a human or a persocom. His skin was too flawless, but that might just be stage makeup and the lighting. His movements were slightly jerky, but even that might not necessarily mean he was robotic. The biggest tell, his ears, were hidden behind bangs. The longer Hideki looked at the man, the less he was sure he could tell what he was.

"Ladies, gentlemen, persocoms," the host said, "We have a new act tonight: A singer from right here in Tokyo, making her debut performance. Give a warm welcome to Lofiy!"

An Utauloid with long curly hair took the stage. Hideki did not recognize her—in fact he was certain he had never seen her before—but there was something strangely familiar about her. Dressed entirely in red, a silver ankh hung from a choker around her neck. She received a warm, if slightly hesitant, smattering of applause. After a few moments, a tune emerged from the speakers and she began to sing.

Compared to the other Utauloids he had heard, her voice was both better and worse. She had a deep, rich tone, full of emotion, still moving despite being ever so slightly choppy and distorted. Certianly it was far more melodic than the previous performance. It reminded him of a musician he had seen once in a broadcast from america: a soul singer at some sort of event.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Hideki turned to see a familiar, greasy-haired man seated at one of the nearby tables. "Took me more than a month of salvage to find all the right components. Her sound card has a better dynamic range than almost anything on the market. It's smart, too: I got a great deal on a top of the line processor."

Hideki ignored him, draining the rest of his glass of beer and immediately ordered another.

Undertaker was insistent. "Hey, don't be a stranger! You're M's friend, right? Come on, have a seat. It's more fun here if you have company."

Reluctantly, he slid into the seat across from the parts dealer.

"You shouldn't call her an 'it," Hideki said, "She's a girl, even if she is a persocom."

"I provide an important service to both builders and their 'coms," the parts dealer replied, "I'll talk about both however I want."

"You mean by trafficking in kidnapped persocoms and digging up ones that were buried with respect?"

"Hey, I do honest business."

Hideki gave him an incredulous look.

" _Some_ honest business," he amended. "I'm doing some tonight as a matter of fact." he lifted a bag onto the table. "Got these real cheap. Most of it's probably scrap, but I might be able to salvage something. Leftover bits after a 'Videodrome' stream."

"A what?"

"Hardware destruction." The smile he gave was unpleasant. "Red rooms for persocoms. You the squeamish type?"

Hideki shuddered. "The things people get away with because they're persocoms."

Undertaker's laugh made Hideki's skin crawl. "Yeah, our laws don't really apply to them."

Hideki shrugged, realizing he could not keep sitting next to Undertaker and insulting him. He had chosen to come to the club, had chosen to sit next to the parts dealer. While he was here, he might as well talk to the man.

"It's like they're _so_ new that people don't really know how to treat them," he commented.

The parts dealer shook his head. "Oh, 'persocoms' existed long before computers, or rather the role they play for us existed. Roman slaves, Edo period Hinin, European feudal serfs, convicts, the proletariat—it's an idea as old as civilization itself really. Shift the most difficult and tedious work to an underprivileged group, while those in control power reap the reward. Sometimes they have more rights, sometimes fewer, but always there in some form."

"Is it really right, though?" He wondered.

Something about that comment seemed to amuse the other man. "Right? It doesn't matter if we think it's right or wrong, it's what's always happened. If humanoid computers didn't exist, that niche would be filled by some other group. You can't change something so deeply ingrained in how we live."

Hideki took another drink. "So you're what, advocating anarchy? Communism?"

Undertaker shook his head. "Communism in practice ends up as the same thing rebranded, and anarchy just reshuffles who's on top and who on bottom. To erase the system completely would take a change as radical as the one which created civilization in the first place." He shrugged. "Of course, no one could predict something like that. Could start happening tomorrow, for all we know."

The persocom onstage began another song. There was something incredibly familiar about her voice, but Hideki could not place it.

"About persocoms specifically," Hideki finally began again. "Have you been dealing with them for a while?

"Eight, nine years or so."

"Have you ever seen one that started acting on its own? I know that's impossible; all they do is follow programming, right?"

Undertaker shrugged. "And what makes you think that you don't?"

Hideki blinked. "But I'm not programmed."

His companion replied with another question. "Tell me, are you hungry?"

Hideki frowned, wondering where the parts dealer was going with his comment. "A little, I guess."

With a flick, the man opened a folding knife and set it down on the table. "Here then, cut my arm off. There should be enough there to fill you up, and more."

That took Hideki aback. He blinked. "You want me to…what?"

Undertaker smirked. "But you can't do it, can you? Every layer of your being tells you that it's wrong. You're instinctively averse to eating something that looks similar to you. At a young age, you learned what things are acceptable food and which are not from your parents and through experimentation. You've been taught by society or religion that cannibalism is wrong. From all of this, your mind calculates a response. That decision is based on stored experiences and instincts that together we call your 'character.' It's still _your_ decision, but you don't have any real power over it. You can't willingly act outside of your character—your _programming_."

"Humans are self-aware though," Hideki protested, "We know what we're doing."

The parts dealer shrugged. "I suppose you could make the same argument for persocoms."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "I think you've lost me."

"Self-awareness and free choice aren't the same thing.

Hideki lapsed into a thoughtful silence. He went through another glass of beer and two cups of coffee before Lofiy finished her performance. As the curly-haired persocom descended the stage, the applause was more definite than it had been on her way up.

The host took the stage once again. "And now, demonstrating superhuman feats of dexterity and acrobatics, we have Amano Chromia."

He still could not figure out If the host was a human or a persocom. Over the past three years, Hideki had become much better at picking up on the subtle tells between the two, but this host sat somewhere in between. Really, it should make no difference, but he wanted to know nonetheless. There was some mystery here in the club which bothered him, and his gut told him it had something to do with his investigation.

It took him a moment for him to realize that the Utauloid who had left the stage was approaching them. As she drew closer, the sense of familiarity returned. It was nothing to do with her appearance, that much he could say for certain. It was something subtler than that.

As Lofiy reached them, Hideki rose to his feet. "Nice to meet you, I'm—"

The persocom cut him off. "I know who you are, Anubis."

Hideki was not sure how to respond to that.

She turned to Undertaker. "I'm ready to leave now, whenever you are."

"Go on ahead," Undertaker replied dismissively, "I have a meeting with management here, and I want to see a contact about some new acquisitions."

"I'll expect you some time before tomorrow morning then," Lofiy replied.

"Will you be back here any time in the next few days?" Hideki blurted out.

She turned to Hideki and gave him an enigmatic smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon, Anubis."

She said nothing more to either of them as she left. Her red dress was soon lost into the crowd as she sauntered off in the direction of the door.

Hideki's companion sighed, and rose to his feet. "Well, I better get going. Nice getting to know you, M's friend."

It felt awkward hearing the parts dealer call him that. "Actually, my name is—"

Undertaker cut him off. "I don't want to know your name, and I don't want you to know mine. Lofiy calls you Anubis, so Anubis will do."

Hideki thought for a moment. Undertaker was right; he really did not want the man to know. The way that the parts dealer spoke, the way he looked at everyone, he would not put it past the man to track him down and harvest his organs, or something like that. Still, he was not sure the name 'Anubis' really fit him; it was too esoteric, too sinister. But he could not think of another good name off the top of his head, and "M's Friend" was too awkward. Finally, he nodded. "Alright then, I'm Anubis for now." At least until he could figure out a better pseudonym for himself.

"See you next time then," and with that, undertaker walked off in the opposite direction Lofiy had gone. As he disappeared down the hall to the private rooms, Hideki picked up on something he had never noticed before. Above the door into the hall, painted in a fluorescent blue, was an ankh.


	17. Track 17: Downloader

Track 17: Downloader

Hideki sat alone at the table until the next performer took the stage. He was not sure what to do, or how to proceed. Half of him wanted to leave the club, just go back to his apartment and mull over the last hour of his life, while the other half wanted to stay and see what else he could uncover. Undertaker had left him with a great deal to think about, bringing up points he felt unequipped to handle.

What he needed was a better understanding of how persocoms were programmed—no persocoms as a whole. Without some sort of understanding, some sort of framework, he would be left with more questions than answers. He made a mental note to stop by the campus library the next day and look for as many books about artificial intelligence as he could. As if his grades had not suffered enough recently, now he needed to take on yet another project.

As Hideki looked around the bar, he noticed the familiar figure of Calandra seated a short distance away. The siren was at a table in the corner, her talon feet on its surface. One of the club-branded thumbdrives was plugged into the side of her head.

Making a decision, Hideki rose to his feet. The club had become crowded once more, and he had to press his way between bodies as he made his way over to the corner table. He blushed profusely as he bumped into one of the drink-dispensing persocoms, his hands pressing against soft flesh between metal and plastic spouts. Finally, by twisting sideways and holding his coffee cup above his head so it would not be spilled, he managed to reach is destination.

Calandra's eyes were ever so slightly slow to focus as he approached. "Hey there again!

"Hey Calandra," Hideki began.

"Sorry," she replied, "I'm off the clock right now, but I'm sure one of the other servers can help you."

"That's fine, I've had enough for the evening. Actually, I'd like to just talk for a bit, if you're willing. I'm still trying to get a handle on this place."

She raised an eyebrow. For a moment, it seemed she was sizing him up and considering something. Finally, she shrugged. "Since you're becoming such a regular, I should at least learn your name."

"Motosuwa," Hideki replied.

"Well Mr. Motosuwa, Take a seat.

He gratefully slid into the chair next to her, setting his now lukewarm cup of coffee on the table.

Calandra continued. "So you want to get a handle on Club Mercer? Figure out what makes it tick?"

"There's something strange here I can't quite put my finger on," Hideki explained, "It's been on my mind since the first time I set foot in here. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

She waved a talon hand in the direction of the rest of the room. "Look around you. What do you see? What really stands out?"

Hideki took another look around the club, trying to figure out what she was pointing out. There were dozens of patrons, all packed into a space just large enough to fit them. It was dimly lit, with glow paint, LEDs and EL wire standing out from the shadows. It was a scene that could have been from any time in the last fifty years. No, strip it down to the barest details, and it could have been from almost any time in history. It could not be the big picture then, it had to be a specific detail.

At the next table over, a man in a leather jacket had his arms around a pair of bald female persocoms. His companions had metal plates bolted to their skulls, bare mechanical arms, and a camera in place of one eye. To the other side, a woman sat in the lap of a male persocom with vampire fangs and luminous red eyes. Just beyond, a large, many-tentacled construct shared a table with a girl in a sailor suit: obviously another persocom with its builder.

"Persocoms?" Hideki finally offered.

She nodded. "That's right, persocoms. Different sizes, different shapes, some more obvious and some far less, but persocoms. This place celebrates what we are rather than trying to hide it."

Hideki stared blankly at her. "I think you've lost me."

The siren explained. "Each year, the big manufacturers bring out their new lines and boast about how much more they look like humans than last year's models." She shook her head disparagingly. "But we're _not_ humans and never will be, we're _persocoms_. We're mechanical, and in here we're proud of it. We can look like _anything_."

"So, you like working here then?" he asked.

She shrugged, "I'd rather be a patron than a waiter, but it pays the bills, keeps me running, and also keeps me busy."

Something out of the corner of her eye caught Calandra's attention. Hideki followed her line of sight, trying to figure out what she had seen. It was an impossible task for him, the club was too dark, but clearly the siren persocom had seen something.

"I'm supposed to be off the clock," she grumbled. To Hideki she said, "Excuse me a moment."

Rising from her seat and unplugging her thumbdrive, she wove her way through the crowd, moving as quickly toward the entrance as she could. Hideki drained the last of his coffee and trailed after her, having a much harder time of it. As he pressed his way between two occupied chairs, he was amazed how easily the siren moved through the crowded club.

A woman in a maroon jacket was guiding a male persocom toward the entrance. Her appearance was surprisingly nondescript; if Hideki had passed her in the street he would not have noticed her.

Calandra managed to insert herself between the woman and the door. "Excuse me, ma'am, but your persocom seems to be having problems."

Now that Hideki was closer, he could see the persocom clearly: a mostly standard human model. He was made in the shape of a very attractive young man: graceful face, deep, expressive eyes, leaned but fit physique. He might have stepped off the cover of a romance manga. The persocom seemed bewildered, his eyes focusing on the siren but clearly not registering anything.

"My facial recognition program has crashed," he stated. "Please identify yourself."

"Calandra," she said, "I'm an employee here."

"I don't recognize your name," the male persocom replied. "Are you human?"

The siren turned with a suspicious look to the woman guiding him. "Something really did a number on him. How did he get this way?"

"He's just running a few Slods too many," she said apologetically, trying to push past the siren. "I'll just get him home and fix him up."

Calandra shifted to once again block her path. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. Club rules say we can't allow him to leave while he can't distinguish his master from any other person."

The woman tried to push past again. "Really, it's fine. He's my persocom, I'll fix him myself."

"Alright then, do you have proof of ownership? Just let us see it, and we'll let you go."

"I don't carry it _with_ me!" the woman protested. "No one does that."

"I'm very sorry ma'am," the siren replied, "but without proof of ownership, I can't let you take your persocom home in this condition."

The woman was taken aback. "This is outrageous! I can't take my own Persocom home?"

Calandra crossed her arms. "Club rules, ma'am. If you want to stick around and allow us to fix her, I'm sure we can sort this out. Otherwise, you'll have to leave him here and return with the correct documents."

"Fine," the woman spat, "I'll go get them." She pushed past Calandra and stalked out of the club, her anger barely concealed.

The siren watched her go with a look of intense disgust. As the door closed behind the woman, she took the confused persocom by the arm. "Come on, let's get you a seat by the bar. We'll fix you up, and get everything sorted out."

"Shouldn't we wait for her to come back?" Hideki asked.

"She's not coming back," the siren replied, "because she doesn't _have_ proof of ownership." She shook her head. "I need to talk to management about getting her banned from the club. We can't have someone stealing persocoms out of the club."

Hideki's hands suddenly went cold. It made sense now: the nondescript clothes and the eagerness to bring the persocom home, to leave as soon as possible. "You mean she was trying to kidnap him?"

The siren ruffled her feathers. "If you want to put it that way. People like her hack their targets through Slods containing malware. She rewrites a portion of their facial recognition so they can't recognize who is and isn't their master. Then she takes them back to her place and then…well, you're a young man, you get the picture." Calandra shuddered. "The worst part is, she can edit their registration once she's able to fully crack them. She's their master at that point and, for all they know, always _has_ been."

Hideki was not sure what disturbed him more, what the siren was saying, or the casual way she said it. His mind built analogies, drawing parallels to similar crimes against humans. Kidnap. And _worse_.

He finally burst out, "How can you be so calm about this?"

Calandra shrugged, seemingly more irritated by the situation than anything. "You're acting like this is the first time this has ever happened."

Hideki's throat was dry. "How often?

"At least once a week, once a day at peak season. That's on top of humans getting drugged or over-drinking, though the law usually gets involved at that point." She shrugged. "We're running a nightclub here, not a kindergarten. We try to keep it as safe as we can for our customers, but that means every so often we have to deal with situations like this. Head them off so they don't escalate farther than what you just saw."

They guided the confused persocom to one of the few open seats left at the bar.

The bartender approached them. "What happened?"

"Attempted theft," Calandra explained. "Same woman again."

The bartender sighed and shook his head. "This is getting ridiculous. Can't we have her arrested?"

Calandra sighed. "Do _you_ want to get the police involved and snooping around this place? _Right now_?"

The bartender seemed to take something from this, but Hideki could not figure out what.

"Well then," he replied, "We're going to have to fix him up ourselves. Go in, run antivirus, and check for registration info."

She laughed. "Fuck you, I'm not plugging into that mess!"

"Someone has to," he pointed out, "We can't return him in this condition."

The two locked gazes for a long moment. "I better get hazard pay for this," she finally replied. "And overtime. I'm supposed to be off the clock. This is bullshit."

"I'll take it out of my own paycheck if management doesn't agree," he offered.

Calandra rolled her eyes. " _Sure_ you will."

Retrieving a USB cable from beneath the bar, she plugged herself into the confused persocom's ear ports. Leaning against the counter, her eyes became unfocused.

The siren processed data for a few seconds. When she focused once again, her face twisted into a grimace. "Ugh, she made a real mess of this guy. How can one Slod have this much malware in it?" she went back to processing, and almost three minutes passed before she spoke again. "Everything's finally clear." She turned to her patient. "How are you doing? Facial recognition working again?"

The persocom looked around, still somewhat confused, but clearly able to recognize each of them. "Much better, thank you."

"Your system information says your name is Kazuma, right?" Calandra asked.

The male persocom nodded. "That's right. Registered to one Ishida Dayu."

"We'll need to let your master know your master that we've found you."

"I've already sent a message up to the stage," the bartender interjected.

For a moment, Hideki wondered how. Then, and he almost felt stupid for it, he remembered that the man was a persocom. He probably had built in wifi.

As soon as there was a break in the current act, the host returned to the stage. Taking a microphone, he announced. "If anyone is missing a persocom who answers to the name Kazuma, please come to the bar."

Less than a minute later a man approached them, pressing his way through the crowd. He was somewhat shorter than the persocom, with slightly longer hair. As he recognized Kazuma, he rushed over. "What happened? I was in the bathroom for two minutes and you vanished."

Calandra replied for Kazuma. "One of the other patrons tried to steal your persocom. Fortunately we were able to stop her."

"We'll be reporting this, of course," the bartender added, "making sure she won't cause any more trouble."

Calandra turned to Kazuma. "Can you confirm this is your master?"

"Yes," the male persocom replied. "This is Mr. Ishida Dayu."

A look of concern passed across the man's face. "Are you okay, Kazuma?"

"I'm rather shaken, master. Although I _am_ still fully functional, thanks to these individuals."

The siren added, "I hope we haven't overstepped our bounds, but we took the trouble to clear him of the malware which the thief installed. I'd still recommend having him checked out, just to make sure."

"You connected to Kazuma and went through his files?" he sounded shocked and angry.

"I didn't store any data," she reassured him, "simply searched for malware. You can check my logs if you want."

At hearing that, the man relaxed, becoming a little friendlier. "Thanks for saving my persocom. How much do I owe you for the fix?"

Calandra waved him down. "It happened on our premises, we were at fault."

The man was insistent. "Still, if it haven't been for you, I would have lost Kazuma."

The siren smiled. "Just remember to never accept a Slod from anyone but the house. There's no telling what you're really getting otherwise."

"We should probably go home," the persocom suggested. "It has been a trying experience."

"Yes of course." The man looped his arm around Kazuma's. "Let's go."

As the door to the club closed behind them, the bartender began, "We'll have to let management know about this."

"You do it," Calandra said, "I'm off the clock and I need another Slod."

"What time is it?" Hideki asked.

Calandra replied without delay. "Nine-thirty-five."

"I should probably get going then," Hideki declared, "Chi will probably still be waiting for me."

The siren nodded. "Come again soon." She began to walk back toward her corner table.

"One more thing," Hideki called after her.

Calandra paused, turning back to him. "Yes?"

"The host for the performances. Is he a persocom or a human? I'm just curious."

"Oh him," the siren replied. "He's a persocom."


	18. Track 18: Lost One's Weeping

Track 18: Lost One's Weeping

Minoru crossed his arms. "So you think this new singer might be the one we're looking for?"

Hideki squirmed in his chair. "I wouldn't swear to it, but she's just now making her debut, and there's something really familiar about her."

On the table, Kotoko mirrored Minoru in miniature. "If we assume she really is at club mercer, then it's certainly suggestive. I would still like a more concrete connection than just Hideki's gut feeling."

What had become a regular group was clustered in Minoru's lounge. Minoru sat on one of the couches with Shinbo and Kojima. Across from them, Yumi sat next to Hideki, sipping on a glass of lemonade. She had wanted to join them to continue working on her own persocom, and Chi had agreed to cover her shift. A large rolling trunk stood next to the couch.

Five days had passed since Hideki's solo visit to Club Mercer. Hideki had not had much of a chance to think about the experience; focusing back on his studies had taken precedence. Now that his thoughts were able to return to it, he found himself going over every detail of that visit, trying to figure out the significance of every little detail.

Hideki remembered something he had wanted to ask Minoru about. "Hey Minoru, does Club Mercer have any human staff?"

Minoru stared blankly at him for a full five seconds. "You know, I never really thought about it before."

"I started noticing it when I visited," Hideki explained. "There's Calandra who's obviously a persocom, same with the other servers, the bartender, the drink fountain 'coms, and even the cabaret host is one. I've been there three times, and I've ever seen a staff member that was definitely human."

The younger man frowned. "Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure if the bouncer is a human. It's strange, but I never really noticed."

"Persocoms are everywhere these days," Shinbo commented, "You don't really think about it until you've had to look for a human cashier at a grocery or convenience store. It usually takes a few minutes whenever Takako and I go shopping together."

"Speaking of her," Hideki said, "How is Ms. Shimizu doing?"

"She's fine," Shinbo replied. "And she's Mrs. Shinbo now, remember."

Hideki nodded. "R-right."

He still could not get used to the fact that Shinbo was now married to their former cram school teacher. Eloped was more like it; her husband had become distant and obsessed with persocoms. The divorce proceedings had gone on for almost a year before they were completely settled. Mrs. Shimizu had not wanted anything from the man, just to be free from a loveless relationship, but it had not been that simple. By the time everything had been finalized, she and Shinbo had been living together for almost eighteen months. Their wedding ceremony, however, had been well worth it.

"You should bring her sometime," he added, "It's been a while since we last saw her."

Shinbo fidgeted. "I don't think that would be such a good idea. Maybe if we have a get-together where we're not working on Freya or any other persocoms, but as things stand, I don't think she'd enjoy these meetings."

"Is something wrong?" Yumi asked.

"She still has problems dealing with them," he explained. "Persocoms, I mean. She's getting better: she's now fine with letting kids be picked up by their parents' persocoms, but she'll still avoid them any time she can."

A thought crossed Hideki's mind. "She _does_ know you're working on them here, right?"

Shinbo grimaced. "I haven't told her about Freya. I think she gets by now that I'm not about to abandon her for a persocom, but I don't know how she would react to the fact that I'm working on 'coms again."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to keep something like that from her?" Hideki asked, "What if she finds out without you telling her?"

He fidgeted. "Look, I'm not saying it's ideal, but I'm not ready to tell her about this just yet."

Hideki did not want to press the issue. He thought Shinbo should be honest with her, that Ms. Shimizu—no, Mrs. Shinbo—would understand if only he didn't try to hide this from her. But it would be hypocritical for him to start lecturing his friend about honesty, when Hideki could not even bring himself to wear the ring Chi had given him.

Chi was, as before, not present. She was covering Yumi's shift at Chiroru so the young woman could join them and work on her proposed Utauloid. Hideki wondered how much longer he could keep knowledge about Freya from Chi, and whether it was healthier to let her know or to continue keeping her in the dark.

Yuzuki entered the room and bowed respectfully. "I'm very sorry for the delay, master Minoru. Do you require any more tea or other drinks?"

"We're alright, thanks," Minoru replied, "Why don't you join us for a bit?"

Yumi shifted along the couch. "Here, Yuzuki, you can take a seat next to me."

"Thank you," she replied, perching on the edge.

Minoru's eyes followed the persocom as she sat down. He had a curious expression on his face. Suspicion? Curiosity? Concern? Hideki could not tell. It seemed to be all of those, and more.

The couch was more crowded with three people. Hideki tried to distract himself as Yumi's thigh pressed against his. Despite his best efforts, he blushed.

"So, Yumi," He said, "what's in the trunk you brought?"

Yumi stood up, greatly relieving Hideki. With significant effort, she pulled the trunk around in front of them and tipped it onto its side. "I managed to get a custom body made at a place Minoru suggested. It's completely empty right now, but it's ready otherwise."

She unzipped the bag, revealing an unmoving persocom. With the help of Shinbo, she stretched the body out along the table.

The persocom was short and slim, with rather ample breasts. Her hair was short-cropped and a bright bubblegum pink, her eyes a shade of strawberry. A pair of large, articulated rabbit ears emerged from the top of her head, with the persocom's standard connection ports no doubt hidden somewhere within. It took a moment for Hideki to realize that he recognized both the face and build.

"She looks just like you, Yumi!" Hideki commended. "Well, at least the way you did a few years ago."

Yumi stammered, blushing brightly. "W-well it was better for them to work from a reference than to just have it made up out of nothing."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. He was not so sure about that. He recalled the effort which the human counterfeiter Oshiro had gone to in recreating Vocaloids and people. It was a point of pride for him being able to recreate their appearances accurately, suggesting it was actually quite difficult to do. Except for the hair and eye color, Yumi's new persocom looked exactly as she herself had three years ago. picture perfect.

"Really," she continued, "That's all there is to it, honestly!" after a few moments, she relaxed. "I'm just glad that I have enough room now to keep a full-size persocom again. It's been hard doing things these days with just a mobile unit and my old bunny model."

"That's right," Hideki replied, "you moved into a new place recently. How is that going?"

"Now that we've had some time to settle in, Hiro and I are planning to have a little housewarming party in about two weeks. All of you are invited, of course, if you have time to come." She turned to the others. "Do you think we could have her ready by then?"

Shinbo shrugged. "If we can get everything we need in the next few days, we just might. It'll probably take a few hours to construct her internals, install an OS and boot her up. Getting her to sing might take a while longer; I don't think any of us are all that familiar with the Utau software."

"I can handle that, if you can just get her put together and running for me," Yumi replied, "It's just knowing what to get and how to get it running I don't know."

"I believe I may be of assistance," Kotoko spoke up, "I'm familiar with most brands, and can help build a component list complete with price estimates and locations for purchase."

"Let's start with the basics then," Minoru suggested, "Motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive, power supply.

The miniature persocom processed data for a moment. "I'll assume stock components for most," Kotoko commented, "Ms. Omura likely won't need an elaborate setup."

Kojima spoke up. "You should use an AND NX-8504 processor. It's pretty decent for its price range, and will give you reliable performance."

Kotoko shook her head. "In this case, I would actually recommend an Impel J3 over an AND."

"What?" he exclaimed. "But you're running an AND, Kotoko! AND is just all around better. Why use an Impel?"

The miniature persocom elaborated. "As a common user, she won't want to deal with overclocking the CPU, nullifying most of that stability benefit. And at stock speeds, an Impel chip has lower power consumption than the comparable AND."

Kojima laughed. "I don't believe it. My own creation is turning against me."

"I'm only speaking the truth," the miniature persocom replied.

"She's right though," Minoru added, "an Impel will work just as well for her."

"RAM should be a priority," Shinbo interjected, "If she's going to be making her an Utauloid, she'll probably need it."

Hideki zoned out of the conversation as the three other men began arguing the relative benefits of one manufacturer over another. Kotoko remained patient on the table, making an occasional suggestion. Even Yuzuki spoke up on occasion, offering her own suggestions. Slowly, they seemed to settle on a plan.

Hideki looked across to Yumi. She was staring blankly ahead, the conversation apparently far beyond her depth as well.

"So, do you have a name picked out already?" he asked conversationally.

"Saki," she replied, "I was going to go with Usagi, but decided against it."

"What sort of personality do you want to give her?"

"I was thinking of making her a bubbly, Cutey Honey type."

Upbeat, large breasted, and with that face. Was Yumi trying to make _herself_? For the first time, Hideki wondered what her motives were in making this persocom. She had been so against persocoms before; her feelings of inferiority toward the other Yumi, Ueda Hiro's former wife, that he had never expected her to have any interest in owning a humanoid model, let alone making one.

As the argument died down, Yumi finally interjected into the others' conversation. She gestured over to the gurney in the corner where Freya's body was laid out. "How is fixing Chi's sister going?"

"Much faster with the help of the good doctor," Minoru replied.

Kojima snorted. "That's the understatement of the century. I'll admit I had my doubts when I first saw her list, but I don't think we'd ever have had a chance without her help. She's an amazing builder."

Shinbo smirked. "Still developing a taste for older women? You going to be sending flowers soon?"

"What was that, Mr. Hot-For-Teacher?" he snapped back.

In any case," Minoru interjected, "It's already answered some long-standing questions we've had about the Chobits as a whole."

"What do you mean?" Hideki asked.

"In some ways she's very generic," Kojima explained, "I guess it makes sense; she was a prototype for a new technology. In other ways, though, she's unlike any other persocom I've ever seen."

"She'll keep pace with any modern full-size model, and more," Minoru added. "When she was created, she was probably the most powerful computer of her size and weight ever built. But her system is highly specialized; limited graphics card and sound card. From what the doctor said, she runs a non-Unix-like custom OS which her created coded himself, and only a handful of applications were ever written for it. It seems she was designed only for a specific purpose, not to act as a general-use the way Kotoko or Yuzuki were."

"It's no wonder that urban myths developed around them," Kojima agreed.

"We should come up with a name for her," Yuzuki suggested.

"What's wrong with Freya?" Hideki asked. "Can't we just call her that?"

"By the time we're finished, she won't really be 'Freya' anymore," Shinbo pointed out, "Like how Chi isn't the same as she was before being rebooted."

"Someone reborn as a different person," Minoru mused, "Who dies, or descends into the underworld, then comes back."

"Ishtar?" Shinbo suggested. "Hel? Persephone?"

"If she were male, we could call her Izanagi," Kojima commented.

"Maybe something more cheerful," Hideki suggested. "It feels sort of morbid to only think about the fact that she died."

Minoru shook his head. "This isn't going to be easy. It's like coming up with a name for a child; we want it to fit, but we can't change it after we find out if it does."

"It's something to keep in the back of our minds," Shinbo commented, "No reason to decide now. We don't even know if we can even reactivate her, although it's starting to look more and more promising."

"Today was productive," Minoru agreed, "We have a general parts list for Yumi's utatloid. If we can pick them up before our next meeting, I don't see why we can't have her finished in about a week."

Yumi smiled. "Thanks for all your help!

"Not a problem," he replied, "We're always glad to help someone just getting into custom persocoms." he turned to Hideki. "You and I will need to have another private meeting about our job for Yanaha soon."

Kotoko spoke up from the table. "If I might make a request, actually. There's something I would like to investigate which has bearing on that particular job."

Minoru raised his eyebrows. "Go on."

"I have a theory about the situation at Yanaha, but in order to test it I'll need to plug into an ethernet connection at their headquarters."

"You have my interst," Minoru replied.

The miniature persocom glanced to Yumi, Shinbo and Kojima. "I would prefer not to discuss more in present company."

Minoru nodded. "We'll go to Yanaha tomorrow and investigate."

Yuzuki rose. "If you will excuse me, master Minoru. I would like to go shopping. I would like to pick up a few things at the fabric and craft stores, and I have a meeting set up with someone."

Hideki looked at her suspiciously. It seemed that each time he met with Yuzuki, she revealed yet another strange behavior.

"You, uh, seem to have developed a lot of new interests lately," he commented in what he hoped was a conversational tone.

Yuzuki bowed. "It's all in service to my master."

Hideki wished he were the kind of person to press the issue. Something was happening with Yuzuki; something had prompted her to radically change her behavior. It seemed to make her happy, but he just wished he knew what was going on.


	19. Track 19: Whimsical Mercy

Track 19: Whimsical Mercy

The elevator dinged as they reached the laboratory floor. As the doors slid open to reveal the familiar security door, Hideki fished his ID from his pocket. He had learned his lesson from last time; Kotoko was seated on his shoulder rather than riding in his bag. It was amazing how light she felt perched there; the persocom weighed no more than a doll. He had to be careful with how he walked, however; several times his shifting had almost made her fall her off, and she had to cling to his collar for support.

"So," Minoru began as they walked down the hallway, "What's this theory of yours, Kotoko?"

The miniature persocom folded her arms. "It seems likely that Lola had an accomplice on the outside. She would have to get in contact with them somehow beforehand, at the very least to arrange her escape."

"We figured that much," Minoru replied, "But I checked her activities for the past six months. She had no suspicious network activity that could have been to them."

"There's a flaw with that approach," Kotoko replied. "It assumes her connection was outbound. The Vocaloids' access to Wifi and mobile networks is highly restricted, primarily for their own safety. However, the ethernet connections in this building's LAN are largely unregulated for them. The assumption seems to be that the other persocoms on the network are all authorized Yanaha machines, and already have some sort of clearance with the company. Outbound connections may or may not be guarded in that case, but communications between persocoms hardwired onto the LAN would almost certainly not be."

Minoru raised an eyebrow. "You think that she has some sort of accomplice within Yanaha itself?"

"I think she had a contact which was connected directly into the network," she corrected, "Whether or not that persocom was there legitimately remains to be seen."

The doctor was in when they arrived at the lab, once again up to her elbows in the chest cavity of a persocom. Hideki saw long plum-colored hair peeking out from under the white sheet. The previously completed persocom still lay on the first table, modesty-preserving towel draped over his waist. The lab's state of disarray had not changed, although some of the clutter had shifted around. Both Minoru and Hideki elected to remain by the door.

Minoru cleared his throat. "Sorry for intruding, Dr. Suzuhara."

Setting down her tools and removing the penlight from her mouth, she waved. "Ah, Mr. Motosuwa, Kotoko—and Mr. Kokubunji's with you. Welcome!"

"How is your work going?" Hideki asked.

"Slowly but surely," she replied, "I'm trying to get all of their hardware built before starting in on programming. Bouncing back and forth can be tiring after a while."

Minoru gestured to the miniature persocom. "Kotoko here has something she would like to investigate on the building's network. We need a wired connection, and this is one of the few places where I know we can find them."

"They don't put in very many wall plugs for it," the doctor agreed, "There's five, maybe six floors with ethernet connections, the rest is done through Wifi." She gestured to one of the vacant tables. "You can use the one here."

Working their way carefully through the boxes, Hideki and Minoru managed to avoid stepping on any of the scattered objects. Kotoko jumped onto the table and moved over to the wall-mounted ethernet port, then withdrew a cable from one of the bells on her head and plugged herself in. "I'll need a system administrator password to access the mainframe's records."

"I have one," The doctor offered. "Username SuzuharaS01, password LadyAthena100%."

After a moment of processing, Kotoko replied, "Confirmed. Access granted." Her eyes refocused. "It will take a few minutes for me to sort through all of the logs."

"And this will tell us who she talked to?" Hideki asked.

The miniature persocom nodded. "In a sense, yes."

He laughed nervously. "This is still kind of out of my depth. Is there anything I can do?"

She shook her head. "It is unlikely that you'll be able to help me, but you won't disturb me either if you want to remain. Feel free to stay or leave at your own discretion."

"Miku should be wrapping up a recording session in a few minutes," Dr. Suzuhara offered, "The two of you seem to be becoming friends. If you want to wait in the lounge, I can let her know you're looking for her."

He nodded to her. "Thanks! I suppose I can't stop by without at least saying hello to her."

The lounge was mostly deserted when Hideki entered, apart from a few Vocaloids who he did not recognize. They shot curious looks in his direction, seemingly trying to determine why he was there. Hideki could not help but feel like an intruder. This was their private space, a place they could go in the rare free moments in their schedule.

A few minutes later, Miku rushed into the room. As she saw him, she beamed. "Hideki! You're back!"

He nodded. "Of course! I'm still investigating, so I figured I'd stop by and say hello."

She dropped onto the couch next to him, the impact enough to jolt Hideki upward for a few seconds.

Miku let out a long sigh. "I've been in the recording booth for eight hours! It's good to be out again, looking at something except those four walls."

Hideki's eyes went wide with surprise. "Wow, That's harsh."

"No, that's a short session," she replied, "Most of the time its longer, with the producer and everybody there along with me. Healthy schedules don't happen in the entertainment industry, whether you're persocom or human."

Hideki shrugged. "It still sounds pretty exhausting."

"It's alright. So, how's your investigation going?" Miku asked.

"Minoru and Kotoko are looking into the network logs or something like that." Hideki shrugged. "I don't really know specifics, it's all technical stuff."

"So really no closer at all," she concluded, "That's too bad."

"We do have a good lead, I think," he replied, "There's a new performer at a cyber cabaret, and I think she might have something to do with this."

She tilted her head. "Cyber Cabaret? What's the place called?"

"Club Mercer," he replied, "why?"

Miku shrugged. "Just curious."

Silence fell between them. She shifted closer to him on the couch. He could feel the warmth from her body, although she was not quite touching him. For the first time in a while, Hideki was made incredibly aware of how cute Miku was, and it made him blush. In a way, she reminded him of Chi: so very human he had to remind himself she was a persocom—well, Vocaloid in this case.

Miku fidgeted next to him, ever so slightly inching closer. "When your investigation is over, when you hopefully find Lola and bring her back, what happens then?

"I'll probably go back to college full-time," he replied, "It's been far too long since I could really focus on school, what with this whole thing. Things will go back to normal here, and in a month or two it'll be like nothing ever happened."

She looked crestfallen. "Does that mean I won't ever see you again after that?"

Hideki shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I don't suppose they would let me keep my ID card and have access here."

She fidgeted. "Then I kind of hope you never find her. I like spending time with you, and I don't want it to just go away."

Miku fell silent again. Her shoulders had slumped as she hugged herself, and she gazed down into her lap. She looked so sad, so vulnerable. Something deep within him made him want to reach out and hug her. That feeling made him think. He had not _wanted_ to feel that way, he just _did_. Undertaker's words flashed through his mind again. Instincts. Emotions. Programming. Was it that way for her too? Miku looked sad, but did she feel it the way he felt sadness? They were programmed emotions, but they were real to the one experiencing them, right?

He reached out to squeeze her hand comfortingly, or at least that was the intention. At the exact same moment she shifted on the couch, sitting up and turning. What exactly happened next Hideki was not sure, but his hand met something significantly softer than he was expecting. He blushed as he realized that he was groping her left breast.

Miku cried out in surprise, for a moment drawing the attention of the others in the room. "Gyah!" She turned away again, blushing and covering her breasts with her hands.

He shifted away as far as he could along the couch. "S-sorry!"

Still blushing, she looked back to him. "It's alright. This seems to keep happening to us."

He replied to her comment from before. "We're friends now, we know each other. Just because I won't be stopping by every few days doesn't mean we have to stop spending time together."

"Do you have an email, or some sort of contact info?" She asked hopefully. "Maybe we could get together sometime."

Hideki nodded, then told her his email address. He added, "You showed you my world, maybe I could show you mine?"

The smile returned to Miku's face, so warm and broad it made his heart soar. "I'd like that!"

Another five minutes passed before Miku excused herself. Hideki walked with her as far as the lab, waving goodbye as she rounded the corner to the elevator.

Kotoko looked up just as Hideki reentered the room."My suspicions were correct," She announced.

Hideki tiptoed over to the table. "What did you find?"

"Here." She opened a screen on the wall monitor which displayed a list of some sort, each entry showing two persocoms with a date and time. "This is the main network persocom's logs of internal data traffic for the last six months." She began to scroll through the list. "Unusual behavior starts four months seven days ago. She makes repeated two-way contact with a machine connected to an address on this building's maintenance level."

She pointed to an entry midway down the current segment of the list. In all capital letters, the recipient was listed as "AKITA NERU."

"That name seems familiar," Minoru replied, "Wasn't that a persocom involved in some sort of scandal a few years back?"

"Oh yes," the doctor said with an annoyed groan, "I know _her_."

Kotoko pulled up an image in a separate window. The persocom depicted bore a remarkable similarity to Miku. She wore the same outfit as Miku had with her V2 hardware, with a gray blouse, black arm sleeves and black miniskirt. Only her hair and color scheme were different: golden instead of teal, with her hair pulled into a single ponytail on her left side instead of twintails. In her hand she held a clamshell device which Hideki identified as an old-style flip phone. The glowering expression on her face left little doubt about her personality.

"She was a persocom involved with a smear campaign approximately five years ago," Kotoko explained. "A consortium of record companies hired an advertising agency to discredit Yanaha's Vocaloid technology and damage the reputation of Hatsune Miku in particular."

"That was around the time we started becoming a serious threat to the established labels," the doctor added. "We weren't just a curiosity anymore, we were competing with them in the pop market."

Kotoko nodded. "Ultimately it was discovered and Yanaha sought legal action against the offending companies, but Akita Neru seems to have remained active following its discovery. Her specialty appears to be industrial espionage, with this company as a main target."

"If Yanaha knows about her, how did she get access to the building?" Hideki asked.

"She just finds a way," Dr. Suzuhara explained, "No matter what new security measures we put in place, within two weeks she's found a way around them."

"A learning system?" Minoru asked.

Dr. Suzuhara nodded. "A particularly clever and tenacious one, not afraid of failure. Rude on top of it."

Kotoko spoke up once again. "There's more." She scrolled through the list in a blur, finally settling on a section closer to the top. "Two months thirteen days ago, at 0:35:16, Lola connects with this 'Akita Neru' once again, who then sends an outbound wireless message into the Tor network. At 0:37:23 they receive a response, which is then routed back to Lola. Similar contacts occur over the remaining time period until her disappearance."

"Onionland," Minoru sighed, " _Of course_ this would have to involve the dark web sooner or later."

Hideki frowned. "Dark web?" The term was unfamiliar to him.

"The underworld of the internet," Minoru explained. "Mostly unindexed, and theoretically untraceable. The kind of place most people have no business going."

"So Lola was planning this for at least four months," the doctor interjected, "All the time she was performing and giving interviews, she was getting ready to run away."

"She also knew we were going to search the logs," Minoru mused, "And she didn't want anyone tracking her down that way. I suppose most people would only be looking for direct outbound communication."

"Her connecting to Neru explains how she knew how to get out and cover her tracks," the doctor added. "What I want to know is, what started happening around four months ago that made her want to run away, and why did it take her so long to go through with it? What changed?"

"That's what I want to know too," Hideki commented. "Unless we can find her, her accomplice, or this 'Akita Neru,' I don't think we'll get an answer."

"You don't really find Neru, she finds you," she replied, "sooner or later she'll show up."

"Good job, Kotoko," Minoru congratulated her, "Thanks to you, we're one step closer to uncovering this mystery."

The miniature persocom crossed her arms once more. "I _am_ programmed to investigate mysteries," she replied with a degree of pride.

A voice emerged from the monitor on the doctor's desk. "Front desk paging Dr. Suzuhara."

The doctor wove her way through the maze of boxes over to it, then tapped the screen. "Dr. Suzuhara here. What is it?"

"There is a person here to see you." the voice responded.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'm not expecting anyone. Send a picture."

Curious, Hideki and Minoru approached, with Kotoko clinging to the latter's jacket. After a moment, the screen displayed a video feed from the lobby. A familiar, lanky man with glasses and chin-length hair stood by the front desk. The man looked directly into the camera and waved.

The doctor turned to Minoru and Hideki. "Isn't that your friend, Mr. Kojima?"

"Friend is a bit of a stretch," Hideki replied, "But yeah, that's Kojima sure enough."

Even Kotoko seemed confused. "What's my master doing here?"

"Beats me," the doctor sighed.

"He better not be trying to break in on our investigation," Hideki grumbled, "He's gone too far with his curiosity in the past."

The doctor tapped the screen once again. "Don't send him up, I'm coming down."

"We might as well all go down," Minoru added. "I'd like to find out what he wants myself."

Kojima was waiting just outside the elevator when they reached the lobby. Hideki had not noticed before, but his clothes were different: a dark suit and tie, with well-ironed slacks and shoes. As much as it fit his surroundings, it seemed almost laughable on the persocom builder. It made him look ten years younger, and somehow less dignified.

Dr. Suzuhara approached. "You're Mr. Kojima, correct?"

Kojima nodded. "That's right. Sorry for disturbing your work."

His sudden politeness unnerved Hideki as much as it surprised him. In no way was this normal.

"So, what's this about?" the doctor asked.

Kojima placed his hands together in a pleading gesture and bowed deeply. "Please, Dr. Suzuhara, teach me everything you know about Persocoms!"

Ten seconds of stunned silence passed before any of them could figure out a proper response.

The doctor frowned. "Are you asking to be my apprentice?"

Kojima nodded eagerly. "You're a true master when it comes to building. You learned from the great Mihara Ichiro himself—helped him plan and build even. On top of that you build Vocaloids as a profession. It would be an honor to learn from you!"

"I'm sorry," she said, "But my work isn't something I can share with outsiders."

"Please!" he pleaded, "Let me help you build, or even just watch! there's so much I could learn!"

The doctor did not reply to him, instead turning to Minoru. "When are you planning to work on the restoration next?"

"The next meeting is Saturday," Minoru replied. "We have another friend who we're helping build a persocom of her own, and it made sense to work on them at the same time."

She nodded. "Perfect!" Turning back to Kojima, she explained to him, "I can't let you help me build a Vocaloid, that's a corporate secret, so you'd have to be a Yanaha employee. What I _can_ do is I can teach you on an outside project. You'll learn as much from repairing and upgrading persocoms as you will from building from scratch."

"So you're willing to mentor me?" The younger persocom builder sounded excited.

"Consider restoring Freya to be your test," The doctor replied. "If you do a good job, I'll start teaching you more about how I build."

Kojima beamed. "I won't let you down!"


	20. Track 20: Paradise of Light and Shadow

Track 20: Paradise of Light and Shadow

Hideki had read more in the last week than he had in either high school or college. A stack of science fiction novels and manga sat to one side of the TV, most with the name of the public library stamped onto their sides. The works spanned almost a century of literature from across the globe: Karel Capek's _RUR_ , Azimov's _Robots_ series, Philip K. Dick's _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ , Osamu Tezuka's _Mighty Atom_ and _Metropolis_ , anything and everything he could find dealing with persocom-like machines.

He found himself fascinated by each new story, especially how old some of them were. It seemed like humans had always wanted to make artificial people, long before they even knew how to make clockwork or machines. Undertaker had been right, in a sense; persocoms were a very old idea, filling a niche that many groups of people had throughout history. Even the word "Robot," a word so common he had never thought about it, came from a Czech word meaning forced labor or serfdom.

There was one theme through many of the stories, a trend which concerned him. The machine people often rose up against their human oppressors, often violently killing or enslaving a weakened humanity. Some had humans and machines living together as equals, or helping mankind like in Mighty Atom, but these were few and far between.

He glanced around the room at the three persocoms he shared the space with. Sumomo and Kotoko sat in their typical spot atop the TV. Chi was resting her head in his lap, the cable once again running out of her ear connector and to the CD player. She was so cute, so innocent. An angel who had descended from heaven three and a half years ago to bless his life. In all that time, she had remained her same cheerful, earnest self. He could not imagine her being part of any revolution. What about the other persocoms he knew? Maybe Sumomo then? The very idea of the dancing laptop persocom protesting was laughable. Yuzuki? He could not imagine her even crushing a spider; she was far to caring. What about the Vocaloids? No, even Flower, who complained about the corporation's absolute control of their lives, did not seem to want to break free from what had been set out for her.

Of any of the persocoms he knew, Kotoko was the only one he could see being part of a revolt. Once again seated atop the TV, she had remained silent for hours, processing data. He wished he knew what she was working on, whether it was searching for Lola, window shopping for upgrades to her own system, or something completely different. Of course, she would tell him if he asked, she was programmed to never lie, but if she were planning a revolt, couldn't she find a way around that?

Chi poked his cheek, looking up at him in curiosity. "Hideki?"

Hideki jumped a good ten centimeters into the air and cried out before he realized it was only her. "Sorry," he said, "Am I making a weird face again?"

"You were staring at Kotoko."

"Oh, er…" Hideki set aside his current volume—an old manga title—and smiled. "I was just thinking about something."

Chi glanced over at the book. "Why are you reading so much?" she asked.

Hideki shrugged. "I guess because there are things I don't understand, and I'm trying to find something that will help me figure them out."

"So does that mean you don't understand girls?" she asked. "You read your magazines a lot."

Hideki laughed nervously. "No, that's a very different sort of reading."

"Different how?"

Hideki sidestepped the question. "What about you? you seem to be listening to a lot of music lately."

Chi put her hand to her chest. "When I hear them sing, especially Miku, I get a feeling right here. She talks to me like the other me used to."

Hideki was not sure if he entirely understood, but he thought he did.

Sumomo jumped up and began dancing. "Ring, ring, ring! Phone call! Phone call! Ring, ring, ring!"

"That'll be Minoru," Hideki replied. "Answer."

Sumomo immediately sat back down, her eyes unfocusing as she connected the call. "Hideki, it's Minoru. We'll be there in two minutes."

"Sure," he said, "I'll be ready to go when you get here."

"See you soon." The call disconnected.

Gently shifting Chi out of his lap, he stood. Hideki pulled on his jacket, then moved to put on his shoes.

As he passed the TV, he looked down at the two laptop persocoms. "Ready to go, Kotoko?"

Kotoko's eyes refocused. "Sorry, what?"

Hideki repeated, "I said are you ready to go?"

"Oh," she replied, standing up. "Yes, I am." She raised her arms, waiting for him to pick her up.

He frowned. Was it Hideki's imagination, or had Kotoko been getting slower to respond lately? It was probably just the fact she was working hard on the investigation, along with worrying about becoming obsolete. That was it; she was just stressed and worried.

Chi sat up. "You're going out again?" There was a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Just a short trip," Hideki reassured her, "There's something I found last time I went to Club Mercer, and I want to show it to Minoru and Kotoko."

"Oh," Chi replied, "Take care."

Hideki's heart fell as the door closed behind him. Chi had always been there for him, but lately he had not spent as much time with her as he should. He really needed to do something to make it up to her.

All through the car ride with Minoru and Yuzuki, he tried to think of how he could make it up to her. He could not afford another concert, and in any case it did not seem enough. No, he did not want to feel like he was buying her affection, he really wanted to see her smile.

Yuzuki gave him a concerned look. "You seem distracted, Mr. Motosuwa."

Hideki looked up. "Sorry, I was just thinking that I'm spending too many evenings away from Chi. She's been so supportive for so long, I want to do something special for her. I don't know what, though."

The blue-haired persocom nodded. "Perhaps I'm not the right source for advice," she replied, "But you don't need to do anything elaborate. Miss Chi is devoted to you with all of her being. Just spending time with her will mean as much as any gift or special gesture."

He frowned. "Will that really be enough? That doesn't really feel at all special."

"She's right," Kotoko added, "Just having our masters spend time with us is enough for most persocoms. We want to be appreciated; nothing is worse than simply sitting around doing nothing, ignored by them."

Hideki lapsed into silence once again.

Club Mercer was not as busy as it had been the last time Hideki had been there. Granted, it was earlier in the evening, but the tables were not nearly as crowded, many of them empty. Hideki recognized several of the patrons still present from his previous visits, and was beginning to develop a sense of who the club's regulars were. The act was just changing as they entered, with a group of five persocoms bowing to applause before exiting the stage.

"And now, poetry in Fortran, by Lady Lovelace!" the host announced.

there was modest clapping and a few cheers as a persocom in an elaborate classical European dress took the stage.

Kotoko raised her voice over the crowd. "According to Channel 23, Lofiy should be performing tonight."

Someone called to them from one of the tabled. "Hey M! Anubis!" Hideki's stomach sank as he recognized a greasy-haired man waving to them.

"It seems our parts dealer associate is here as well," Yuzuki commented.

Minoru's eyebrow raised as he glanced over to Hideki. "Anubis?"

"Don't ask," Hideki murmured back.

Undertaker gave them a smile that made Hideki shudder. He gestured to the empty seats next to him. "Fancy seeing you again so soon! Come, take a seat!"

Hideki felt like a fly being invited to tea by a spider. He, Minoru and Yuzuki slid into chairs next to the parts dealer.

"Don't be shy! Drinks all around!" Undertaker announced. As Calandra passed by his table, he called over, "Drinks for everyone at this table, on my tab!"

She nodded, quickly scurrying off. A few moments later one of the drink fountain persocoms had set glasses of beer in front of the three humans. Hideki sipped his cautiously, still concerned.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Minoru asked.

"Business is booming!" he exclaimed, "Just talked to some of my associates, and they've picked up some real top-range persocoms they'll sell me for cheap. On top of that I just finished locating some things for management here, and I have an Utauloid who's an up and coming singer."

Hideki decided that he did not want to know where those "top-range persocoms" came from. Instead, he asked, "Speaking of Lofiy, where is she? She's scheduled to perform tonight, right?"

Undertaker shook his head. "Nope, last minute rescheduling. She's off at another venue tonight."

A glance passed between Hideki and Minoru. So much for investigating Undertaker's new singer.

Hideki sighed. While they were there, he might as well be sociable. "So why is this place called 'Club Mercer?' anyway," he asked. "It seems like an odd choice."

"Well now," Undertaker replied, "I guess you could say that's management's little joke."

Hideki frowned. "I don't follow." He knew now it was a reference to a classic science fiction novel, but could not figure out the connection. The philosophy behind Mercerism was supposed to be one of humans united by empathy, an emotion which the androids in the story lacked. Why the management would choose that particular reference for a club staffed exclusively by persocoms, except perhaps for ironic reasons, Hideki did not know.

Undertaker chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know." He took a long drink, showing he would not say any more.

Trying another tack, Hideki asked, "Does management here know what you do? I thought they usually banned thieves."

"I've never stolen anything in this club, not even a beer glass." The parts dealer denied.

"But they _do_ know?" he insisted.

"Matter of fact, management here are some of my best clients," Undertaker replied, "They wouldn't dare turn me in or kick me out with all the dirt I have on them." He sneered. "Oh yes, I know things that would get this place shut down instantly if they ever tried anything."

Hideki shuddered. He was still not sure he understood, but whatever the man was hinting at unnerved him.

Undertaker insisted on buying them a second round of drinks, and then a third. Hideki's head was already swimming by the time the parts dealer excused himself.

Finishing off his third glass, Undertaker rose. "Thanks for the fun, but I have places to be."

"Maybe we'll see you again soon," Minoru replied, "And this new Utauloid of yours too. I'm eager to see her."

Undertaker smirked as he walked off.

As soon as the parts dealer was out of sight, Hideki scowled. "So much for seeing Lofiy."

"I suppose that's the end of our investigation here for the evening," Kotoko commented. "No point staying if our suspect isn't going to make an appearance."

"Perhaps," Minoru replied, "or perhaps not. It seems an awful waste of an evening to just go home."

"I could search for the new venue where she's performing tonight," Yuzuki offered.

Minoru shook his head. "That won't be necessary. While we're here, there is one more thing we can check. Hideki pointed out that we've never seen a single human staff member here. The fact is definitely curious. Perhaps it's unrelated to Lola's disappearance, but it bears investigation."

"There has to be someone here, right?" Hideki pointed out. "Someone has to own this place."

"I suppose _technically_ ," Minoru replied, "But I wouldn't take anything for granted here."

Hideki looked up as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Calandra stood above him. "Hey, your name's Motosuwa _Hideki_ , right?"

He frowned, wondering why the siren persocom wanted to know. "Yeah, that's me. Why?"

"There's a pair of persocoms here looking for you, I think," the siren replied, "One with long blonde hair and the other a laptop unit. Sound familiar to you?"

Hideki turned in shock to see Chi standing by the door, looking out across the crowd."Chi? Oh no, what's she doing here?" he glanced around at the others. "Sorry, I can't stay any longer. I need to get her home."

"I'll call a taxi," Yuzuki offered.

he shook his head. "I couldn't afford it. We'll take the bus. But I really do need to get her back home."

"It'll be on us," Minoru countered. "The next bus doesn't come for a while, and it's probably a bad idea for you to be standing around at a bus stop with such a rare and unusual persocom."

"Thanks!" Hideki replied, "I'll figure out some way to pay you back." He quickly stood, finishing off his drink.

Finding his way through the club was not as easy as it had been earlier in the evening. The tables had become more crowded, and he was less coordinated from the effects of alcohol. Calandra followed just behind him, the club's increased number of patrons providing no difficulty for her.

Chi's entire face lit up as he reached the bar. "Hideki!"

Hideki's initial reaction was shock, quickly followed by a flash of anger. "Chi! What are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you," she replied.

"Sumomo looked up the club's address!" The miniature persocom on her shoulder declared, "We took the train to the nearest stop, and walked from there!"

Hideki could not believe Chi had made it to the club without any problem. If Minoru was worried about them standing around at the bus stop while Hideki was with them, how much more dangerous was it for the two of them alone?

"So you know these persocoms then?" the siren at his elbow asked.

"Yeah, I do," Hideki replied. He turned back to Calandra. "Thank you for your help. We'll be leaving now."

Four minutes later the two were seated in the back of a taxi driving toward the highway. Chi was fidgeting nervously; she seemed to sense Hideki's mood. Sumomo remained oblivious.

Doing his best to keep his irritation in check, he asked, "Why did you follow me to the club?"

Chi looked down. "I was worried about you."

"And so you came here with only Sumomo's help?" No good, his voice still sounded too sharp. "Do you know how dangerous that was?"

Chi fidgeted. "You spend so many evenings away from home. Every time you're away, I'm worry that something will happen to you." She looked up to meet his eyes, her face full of sadness. "So please, let me go with you."

He could not stay mad at her, not with that expression on her face. Cute, honest, earnest Chi. She could not help feeling the way she did; it was part of who she was.

In a way, it was his fault. If he had not been away so much in the last few weeks, if he had paid more attention to her, then maybe she would not have found it necessary to follow him. Her programming—her purpose in life—was to learn and grow, to be with her soulmate and to be happy by making them happy. But he had become more and more distant lately, he realized that now. What Yuzuki and Kotoko had said to him in the car came back to him. Persocoms were happiest when their masters spent time with them and appreciated their work. In that way, they were exactly like people.

He forced his voice to be calm and soothing. "Chi…I don't want you to get hurt. I've seen enough things there already to know it can be dangerous. You might see things, or get into a situation where—"

She interrupted him before he could finish. "Chi doesn't care! I want to be with you, now and always." She reached out to rest her hand on Hideki's cheek. "Chi doesn't want to see Hideki get hurt either."

Hideki was shocked into silence. Chi had never asked this much from him, not directly. She had come a long way in the three and a half years since she had begun to learn, but in some ways she was still very naïve about the world.

If he brought her along, it would be putting her at risk. But wasn't he already putting himself at risk? He was clearly making her worry, perhaps as badly as he was worried about her. No, worse. He _knew_ some things about this new world, she did not. He was not sure if her programming included the ability to imagine, and even if it did if her imagination was like his. But if it was, the dangers she could think up would be far worse than anything he would encounter. could he really do that to her, leave her alone except for Sumomo, imagining all manner of horrible things happening to him? Freya had crashed from despair. Would fear and loneliness do the same to Chi?

He took a deep breath. "Okay. No more late evenings where you're home alone. No more making you worry about me. From now on, I won't leave you behind anymore. From now on, wherever this goes, we'll go there together. I promise."


	21. Track 21: Looking For You in the Sky

Track 21: Looking for You in the Sky

Shinbo wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Alright, nothing left but OS and software installation, and then we can activate her."

Reading from a printed sheet, Yumi said, "Once the operating system is installed, setting up the software looks pretty straightforward. Well, mostly. It says here we need to download the drivers for the Utau sound card from this website. Whatever that means."

With the same tool Hideki had seen Dr. Suzuhara use on Flower, Shinbo zipped the persocom's abdomen closed. The artificial flesh meshed, sealing itself closed without a seam or scar.

Yumi's new Utauloid, Saki, was laid out on a gurney. Shinbo, Yumi and Hideki stood around her, the latter two staying out of the former's way as he put the final touches on the persocom. A short distance to their right, Freya lay on her own gurney, with Minoru, Kojima, and Dr. Suzuhara surrounding her. Sumomo and Kotoko were perched to either side of Freya's head, waiting in case their services were needed.

Their young host was hunched over one of the boards they had pulled out of Freya, soldering iron in one hand and a solder pump in the other. The repairs to Freya had begun, with most of her peripherals—the parts which controlled her body and received data from her sensory devices—replaced with appropriate components. It seemed like the once-unachievable goal of repairing her was growing more and more possible.

Shinbo sighed. "I'd forgotten how much fun building a 'com could be! It'll be a little sad once we get Freya repaired as well."

"We could still hang out," Hideki pointed out, "assuming we still have the time, of course."

"It might be fun to make this a regular meeting," Minoru added. "Start in on a new project of some sort, perhaps invite Brackets and some other members of the BBS to join us."

"Speaking of that," Hideki said, "Who is this 'Brackets' you keep mentioning?"

"He's the owner and webmaster of the custom persocom BBS," Minoru replied.

"Quite a character too," Kojima added, "He was one of the people responsible for the Persocom BASIC project, and helped write the interpreter. According to his posts he lives with like twenty or thirty custom 'coms, most of them shaped like cute girls."

Hideki frowned. "Sounds like a real fanatic."

"He's obsessed," Minoru agreed, "but he's unquestionably one of the most skilled builders on the board."

Sumomo suddenly leapt up and began to dance. "Ring, Ring, Ring! Phone call! Phone call!"

He did not flinch, did not even look up. "Answer."

As the call connected, Yuzuki's voice emerged from Sumomo. "Hello, Mr. Motosuwa? Master Minoru?"

"We're here," Minoru replied. "How was your trip?"

Yuzuki had gone shopping with Chi, saying there were a few things she needed to pick up. She had been vague about what those were, simply saying they were clothing, domestic supplies, and training materials. Chi had seemed eager to go with her, which simply added to the mystery.

"We've just finished up and are on our way back," Yuzuki replied, we should be home in roughly thirty minutes."

"We'll probably be finishing up here by then," Minoru told her, "After that, I'll be ready for tea time."

"I will begin preparing it as soon as I return home," the persocom responded.

"That's alright," her master said, "one of the maids can handle the preparation. However, I would like you to serve it and join me."

"Yes master!" Was it Hideki's imagination, or did Yuzuki sound a little too eager?

Chi's voice cut in at that moment, "Hideki!"

Hideki approached the miniature persocom. "Hi, Chi. Did you have a fun time?"

"Yuzuki and I went to the bookstore after the other shops. I picked up some new magazines for you," she said cheerfully, "and the store owner suggested a DVD."

Hideki blushed, immediately realizing what she meant. "Oh, t-thanks Chi! I'll see you soon!"

"See you soon!" she replied.

The next moment there was a click, and Sumomo's eyes refocused. "Call ended!"

"Elda—sorry, Chi—has turned into a very cute girl," Dr. Suzuhara commented. "You've done a good job re-teaching her, Mr. Motosuwa." Her smile was warm and friendly. It reminded Hideki more than a little of Ms. Hibiya's. Once again, he wanted to know what had happened between the two of them. Both of them had worked at Piffle Princess, both had been instrumental in the Chobits project and developing persocoms as a whole. He would have thought they would be great friends with a lot in common, but instead they seemed barely more than formal to one another.

"I'm glad Yuzuki is spending time with her," Hideki replied. "It's good for her to have a friend."

"I wonder if Freya will end up much like her," Yumi mused, "Or if she'll be completely different."

Hideki found himself wondering the same thing. Chi and Freya. They would have to meet soon. He had not forgotten his promise to her, that they would go forward together and face whatever the world threw at them. That included seeing Freya here, no matter what state she was in.

He fidgeted. "Hey guys, I was thinking of bringing Chi in here next time. Let her know about Freya." he glanced around at the others. "Do you think that would be alright?"

Minoru sighed, setting aside his tools. "We might _have_ to get her involved, actually. We've hit a bit of a brick wall here."

"What do you mean?" Hideki asked.

Dr Suzuhara held up a small integrated circuit they had just desoldered. There did not seem to be anything visibly wrong with it to Hideki's eyes, but that was not saying much. "This ROM chip is supposed to hold the master decryption keys for her cryptoprocessor. Looks like her time underground did a little bit of damage after all, because it's completely dead."

"So this is a big problem then?" he asked.

"It's a bit like the battery problem in old CPS-2 arcade boards," Kojima commented, "Just not time-dependent in this case."

Hideki stared blankly at him. He had no idea what the other man was talking about, and was not sure he even knew how to ask.

After a minute, he rolled his eyes. "That chip is supposed to hold keys which her processors need to decrypt her data. Without them, it doesn't matter if her data is intact and the rest of her system is flawless; it just won't work."

"What about Dr. Suzuhara?" Hideki suggested. "She worked on Chi after all. doesn't she know them?"

"The keys are too complicated for me to remember off the top of my head," the doctor replied. "On top of that it was years ago."

Kojima shook his head, a look of awe on his face. "Really the cryptography here is a work of art. The rom chip is just one of a number of layers. There are banking and financial servers with less protection than her."

Hideki frowned, still trying to figure out what they were suggesting. "So there's no way to fix her then? She's just gone for good?"

"Not entirely," Kojima replied. "You see, we still have a working unit, one with an intact Rom chip."

Now it made sense. "You mean Chi," Hideki concluded.

Kojima nodded. "Chi. Assuming her keys are the same, she should be able to run Freya's data, and with a little finagling we can get those from her."

"I think we can assume they're the same," Minoru replied, "From what the good doctor has said, Chi is a slightly cleaned up version of Freya. Even their base software is practically identical."

"So," Shinbo continued, "All we need to do is Connect the two of them, with one or more of the others monitoring the transmission, and have Chi try to access Freya's systems."

"I would be willing to act as a monitor," Kotoko offered. "I have software which would make identifying the keys fairly simple."

"Just a minute," Hideki replied, "Any time we've plugged a persocom into Chi, she's made them crash. Wouldn't they crash the persocom monitoring them? Wouldn't Freya crash _Chi_?"

"She would never do that to her sister," The doctor reassured him, "In fact, Chi's about the only persocom you can plug into Freya without problems. I'll admit there's a slight risk for the monitoring persocom, but it as long as they stay as a monitor and don't try directly accessing their systems, it shouldn't become a problem."

"Once we have those keys, we can just flash them to a new ROM and we're good to go," Kojima concluded. "Actually, we can flash it to as many ROMs as we want. We can repair Chi and Freya if they ever break, even make an entirely new body for them if we need to."

Hideki gulped. Despite their reassurance, he still had misgivings. If anything went wrong, he would be risking losing Chi permanently. But if they succeeded, she would have a sister, something she had not had since before he rebooted her.

"We don't have a choice then," he conceded. "We get Chi involved, at least enough to find these key things you need."

The doctor stroked the hair of the deactivated persocom. "Not much longer after that, we can get you running again."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "You talk to your persocoms while you're building them?"

"Absolutely!" she replied. "It's important for you to develop a bond with your creation, even before they can hear or understand you. You're not just building any machine, you're creating something that can move and talk like a human."

They lapsed into silence as Hideki pondered what she had said.

"So Doctor," Kojima began conversationally.

The doctor cut in, "if we're going to be working together while you're learning, you should call me Shu. That's what I go by in Angelic Layer matches, and it's quicker and easier that way."

He shrugged. "Okay, Shu then. How exactly did you two get such clean custom PCBs? None of us have ever seen anything like them."

"It helped that Icchan was president of Piffle Princess," she replied. "There's a board house that manufactured a good number of our prototypes. No one gave it a second thought when he sent off for them to be made, just assumed it was for another one of his crazy ideas." she laughed. "They weren't exactly wrong."

"Do you still remember their name?" Kojima asked.

She nodded. "As a matter of fact, I still use them occasionally when I need a custom part or when we start designing the next version of the Vocaloid soundcard." Removing her anti-static wristbands, she added, "I think I have a business card somewhere in my bag. Just a moment."

The doctor had left a rather large handbag on one of the couches. The instant she unzipped it, it began to move on its own. After a few moments, with a shower of pens, papers, and other small items, a green-haired persocom burst from its depths.

"Everyone calm down!" the miniature figure announced. "I'm here!"

Dr. Suzuhara gently lifted him out. "What are you doing in my bag?"

"I stowed away." He held out a small square of cardstock. "Here's that business card you wanted, by the way." Before she could react, the miniature Vocaloid wriggled free of her grip, climbing up onto her shoulder. He glanced around at the room. "Wow nice place. Where's Kotoko?"

Kotoko raised both eyebrows. "Ryoto? What are you doing here?"

Seeing her, the leprechaun-haired persocom climbed up next to her on the gurney. "I came to see you, silly!"

She blushed. "You hid in a handbag just so you could visit me?"

He nodded. "Of course!"

"Wait a minute," Kojima cut in, "You know this persocom, Kotoko?"

She nodded. "I met him during a visit to Yanaha." As seconds ticked by and Kojima continued to stare at her, she began fidgeting. "What?"

Trying too hard to sound casual, Kojima continued. "Are you _attracted_ to him?"

"He's an impressive feat of miniaturization," she replied. "Everything scaled down to the size of a laptop persocom without sacrificing on power."

"Well, _most_ things scaled down," the miniature Vocaloid added with a smirk. "Some things she had to make a little larger than you'd expect."

If possible, Kotoko's face went an even brighter shade of red.

Kojima nodded. "I see. _That_ makes sense."

"I think it's cute," the doctor commented. She bent down to Kotoko and Ryuto's level. "So, does that make Kotoko your girlfriend?"

Kotoko turned away, refusing to meet their eyes. "Well I wouldn't go _that_ far."

Sumomo began chanting, "a boyfriend! A boyfriend! Kotoko has a boyfriend!"

"That's not it," Kotoko denied.

Shinbo called over, "Alright, Install's done! we're ready over here!"

In less than ten seconds, all of them had surrounded the gurney, each of them eager to see the persocom's activation.

Dr. Suzuhara waved them back. "Don't crowd them, this should be a special moment for both of them."

As the rest of them reluctantly retreated, Yumi took a deep breath. "Okay, here we go." She reached behind one of the persocom's rabbit ears.

There was an electronic beep and a whine as the pink-haired persocom activated. All of them held their breath as her operating system booted for the first time. Yumi seemed especially anxious, almost on the verge of passing out from excitement. The persocom opened her eyes, then sat up on the gurney and looked around the room. As she saw Yumi, she smiled.

"Hey there!" she said, "What's your name?"

Hideki was shocked. The persocom's voice was a pitch-perfect match for Yumi's.

It took a moment before Yumi was able to reply. "I'm Yumi! Omura Yumi. And your name is Saki."

Her forehead scrunched up as her eyes unfocused. "Registering owner's name O-mu-ra Yu-mi. Registering system name Sa-ki." As her eyes refocused, she beamed. "Nice to meetcha, Yumi! I hope you don't mind if I call you 'Yumi.'"

"Of course!" she replied, "We'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on."

The persocom's rabbit ears twitched. "Well then, I hope I can do everything you want me to."

Yumi nodded, a relieved smile spreading across her face. "I'm sure you will! I can tell we're going to be good friends."

Saki reached out to hug her master, her ears standing on end in excitement.

Hideki could not help it; he burst out laughing. Saki was so much like her, down to her mannerisms. Both turned toward him, identical looks of curiosity on their faces.

"What's the matter?" Yumi asked.

Saki added, "Did we do something weird?"

Hideki did his best to swallow his laughter. "No, it's nothing. It's very nice to meet you, Saki. My name's Hideki."

"Nice to meetcha to, Hideki!" she turned to the others. "And who are you?"


	22. Track 22: Dark History Maker

Track 22: Dark History Maker

Hideki waved goodbye as the others disappeared through the front gate. The sun was low in the sky, though not quite to the point of evening yet. A miniature persocom was perched on each of his shoulders, Sumomo waving goodbye while Kotoko simply sat with her arms crossed. Chi stood beside him, mimicking his waving.

Dr. Suzuhara had Ryuto riding in her handbag, his head and torso poking out of its top. The miniature Vocaloid smiled back in their direction. "Bye Mr. detective man! See you later, Kotoko!"

On his shoulder, he heard Kotoko sigh.

Yumi and Saki were the last ones to leave, walking in perfect step. Hideki once again wondered about Yumi's choice in making Saki. She had worried for so long about being compared to Hiro's former wife, a persocom also called Yumi. For more than five months after learning about the other Yumi, she had been unable to even speak to Hiro about her concerns, and it was only with Hideki and Chi's help that she had been able to move past her inferiority complex. But now, it almost seemed that she _wanted_ that comparison, was in fact openly inviting it with an Utauloid that looked like her. He did not understand.

Minoru and Yuzuki walked up behind them. "If you wouldn't mind remaining behind for a moment, I've found some things which will interest you," he said.

"About our job?" Hideki asked.

The young man nodded

Hideki followed Minoru back into his study. The room was a small corner office, almost unchanged since before he had known the young man. Shelves of leather-bound books filled two walls, broken up by occasional spans of software boxes. Blue curtains hung by the windows, tastefully parted to either side by tiebacks. Most of the floor space was taken up by a large white desk, its painted panels matching those of the bookshelves. A large LCD graphics tablet sat on its surface with matching pen, by far the most modern fixture of the room. It was a cozy space, if rather sterile.

Yuzuki excused herself as they entered. "If you have no objection, I would like to prepare myself for tea time."

The rest of them sat down, with Sumomo and Kotoko hopping down onto the desk. Hideki settled into a high-backed chair, trying his best to find a comfortable position against its rigid upright form. Chi sat down in the chair beside him, her back straight and her hands resting on her knees.

Minoru looked pointedly at Chi. "Is it alright for her to be here?"

"She's going to be joining us from now on," Hideki explained.

The younger man gave Hideki a long, appraising look, then shrugged. "Suit yourself then." He adjusted his glasses. "After you left the club in such a hurry, Yuzuki and I continued our investigation. Mostly speaking with the other patrons."

Hideki nodded. He had wondered how the rest of the evening had gone. "And what did you find?"

Minoru continued, "Club Mercer employs twenty-four staff members: Eight persocoms modified to dispense drinks, an additional ten wait staff, a bartender, bouncer and cabaret host, and three dedicated janitors. All members of this group are persocoms. No one seems to know who actually owns the club, and no one has ever seen them. The persocom employees refer to 'the management,' but never go into detail about their employers."

Hideki crossed his arms and nodded. It really _was_ true then. "Go on, I know you didn't leave it at that."

"I did a little digging at city hall, and found out who the owners were." Minoru picked up the tablet pen. "Kotoko, if you wouldn't mind plugging into my screen and doing a search."

The miniature persocom stood and plugged herself in, immediately opening a web browser on the screen. After a few moments, Minoru pulled up a document which looked like a financial record. He pointed to a line near the top of the form.

"Here's our answer," he announced.

Hideki looked at the listed names of the two club owners. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!"

His reaction made Minoru raise an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "Asagiri Priss and Yamazaki Linna? They're characters from an anime. Trust me, with how much I've been reading and watching lately, I would know."

Kotoko processed data for a few moments as she opened a new browser window and did a search. "Confirmed. Characters from the anime _Bubblegum Crisis_."

Minoru stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting. If anyone had bothered to do even a cursory check of their names, they would have realized the falsification."

"I mean, who _really_ pays attention to that stuff?" Hideki pointed out. "As long as the government doesn't think they're not paying their taxes or under suspicion for criminal activity, no one's going to check up on it."

Hideki lapsed into silence as he tried to figure out the implications of this new discovery. On paper, Club Mercer was owned by a pair of characters from a decades-old anime. But who was really running the nightclub then? _Someone_ had to be in charge, right? Club Mercer was a real place, with real employees. It couldn't exist without someone managing the company's finances and paying the staff. The question was who.

"Have you found anything else?" he finally asked.

"I've been doing some research on our parts dealer friend," Minoru replied. "I wanted to know who he was and where he came from, basically to see if there was anything which would tie him back to Lola or Yanaha. It's turned up some interesting points. Did you know he's an organ donor?"

Hideki raised his eyebrow. "He is?"

The younger man nodded. "It's remarkably magnanimous, given his profession."

Hideki's first reaction was to agree. Someone so entrenched in the black market, who made their living off the misfortune of others, seemed like the last person to donate their organs. But the longer he throught about it, the more sense it made. He remembered what Undertaker had said, about humans following their own form of programming. It was more than that, though. The parts dealer had a way of looking at people; a clinical, detached sort of attitude which gave the impression he was mentally dissecting them. To have lived so long disassembling humanoid computers, maybe people were just organic persocoms to him, and organs just so many more parts to be salvaged.

"No," he finally replied, "I don't think it is."

Minoru frowned a moment, then shrugged. "There's more." After another brief search, he brought up an archived page from a news site. The title of the article read "Persocom Engineering Graduate Student Invents Breakthrough Prosthetics." Beneath this, there was a video which began to play.

As it faded in from black, Hideki was surprised to see what was obviously Undertaker. He was younger and cleaner, almost respectable in appearance. The parts dealer was dressed in a lab coat, and stood behind what looked like a grey and blue replica of a human heart. A caption marked him as one "Kasahara Tetsuo."

The video continued for another two minutes, as the man described his work and answered a series of questions. Apparently he and his fellow graduate students had developed an artificial heart which was functionally identical to the genuine organ. Unlike previous heart replacements, it was not just a stopgap to be used until a new organic one could be found. It was meant as a permanent replacement, one that could be left in place with no donor organ needed.

Towards the end, he made a comment which caught Hideki's attention. "In the future, I think we're going to see the line between human and persocom disappear. It's already being blurred with our work here. While persocoms become more like us in look and feel, we can take lessons we have learned from the process to improve _ourselves_ in ways we can only imagine right now."

The video ended with a closeup of the artificial heart before fading out. After a few moments, Hideki turned to look back at Minoru. "How does someone go from a Persocom Engineering and biomedical graduate student with to an underground parts dealer working out of a nightclub?"

"Connections to Industrial espionage and a failed reverse engineering job, from the looks of things," Minoru replied, "Remember The infiltrator that Dr. Suzuhara told us about?"

Hideki frowned as he tried to remember. "Her name was something like 'Akita Neru,' right?"

Minoru nodded. "Undertaker—this 'Kasahara Tetsuo'—built her for the advertising agency on some sort of contract job. Around the same time, he was also involved in an early effort to reverse-engineer the Vocaloids. The end result was a persocom named Yowane Haku."

He brought up an image of a persocom with a long white ponytail and red eyes. Hideki recognized her from somewhere, but he could not remember where at first. A mental image finally came to him of a persocom slumped over Club Mercer's bar, with numerous thumb drives plugged into her.

"The results were less than satisfactory, to say the least," Minoru continued. "Apparently, his employers were not pleased, refusing to reimburse his expenses and terminating his contract. Then when the entire Akita Neru situation came to light, he took much of the blame for his creation's failures."

Hideki frowned. "Sounds like he has quite a history with Yanaha."

"He fits all of the facts we know about Lola's outside accomplice," Kotoko commented. "Akita Neru even provides a probable link between the two."

"So what now?" Hideki asked, "Go to the CEO and let him know we've found her? Tell Dr. Suzuhara?"

The younger man shook his head. "Not until we've confirmed that Lofiy is in fact Lola. I'll message the CEO to let him know we have a promising lead, but nothing beyond that. We need to go to Yanaha with definite information they can legally act on, not suspicions and rumors."

"That means another trip back to Club Mercer," Hideki concluded, "Unless we want to knock on Undertaker's door and demand he give us answers."

The young man grimaced. "I would rather avoid direct confrontation with him unless absolutely necessary. Antagonizing him can't be a good thing." He turned off the monitor. "In any case, we're not likely to get another chance to investigate for at least a week. Lofiy isn't booked to perform again until next Friday, and from what I gather Undertaker will be out of town on business."

Hideki sighed. he did not like the idea of just sitting around and waiting, but it did not seem like they had much choice. They needed Lofiy to proceed, and both she and her master seemed to be laying low for the moment. They were not police or legally registered private detectives, so they could not apply for a warrant to search the parts dealer's house. And Hideki did not like the idea of breaking in: there was no way of knowing what sort of alarm system or defenses Undertaker had to protect his house and buisiness. For the moment, it seemed there was nothing they could do but wait. it was frustrating. "We're so close!"

Minoru nodded. "I know. We can only hope. Just a little more patience, and maybe we can put this whole thing to rest."

"What are we supposed to do in the mean time?" Hideki asked.

The young man shrugged. "Lay low but keep an ear open. I'll send off a report of our progress so far and hope that satisfies the CEO for the moment. You should remember that there are other things to worry about besides just this case."

Yuzuki entered at that moment, holding a large silver tray, with a ceramic teapot and a single cup. "Tea us ready!" she announced.

"Thank you, Yuzuki." Minoru adjusted his glasses as he turned back to Chi and Hideki. "If you'll excuse us, tea time has become a private ritual for us."

"That's alright," Hideki replied, rising. "We should get going anyway." He crouched down to let Sumomo and Kotoko climb back onto his shoulders. "Thanks for having us over once again."

The younger man waved away his thanks. "It's nice to have other people around on occasion. It can get lonely here sometimes with only the two of us and the maids in the house."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "The two of you have fun with your tea, I guess?"

Yuzuki did her best to hide a smile. "It's always a pleasure to serve my master."

As they passed her, Hideki noticed that her skirt seemed awfully short. And the back of her dress was open almost all the way down to her waist. Moments after the door closed behind him, he heard the lock click into place.

On the walk to the front door, Hideki tried to convince himself that what was obviously happening in the room behind him was not actually happening. No, he just had a corrupt mind and was imagining things. That was all there was to it. Minoru couldn't possibly be…and with Yuzuki…she was modeled after his sister, after all. To make a near-identical surrogate for a dead family member, and then to…that had to say something about him psychologically.

Chi's voice broke through his reverie. "So Minoru says one of the Vocaloids is missing?"

Glad to have something else to think about, Hideki replied. "That's right. We've been trying to find her, and I think we're close."

The blonde persocom frowned. "She must be very sad."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. Sometimes, the things Chi said surprised him. "Sad?"

"She's away from all of her friends and fans," she pointed out. "And she can't sing and make so many people happy. I want to help her."

He could not help but smile at that. "So would I, Chi."

As they reached the foyer, they stopped to put on their shoes. Chi picked up a small shopping bag set beside the front door.

Hideki examined it with interest. "The things you picked up at the bookstore?"

Chi nodded. "I bought a magazine about the Vocaloids, some magazines for you, and also a new CD. Then the owner recommended a DVD to go with the other things I purchased. Here, take a look."

She withdrew a plastic case and handed it to him. A green-haired, large-breasted persocom adorned the cover. She was dressed in a black and white French maid outfit. A tag in the corner proclaimed "18+ only! Hot!" The title read "Maidloid Volume 1: Night Maid. Starring Akume Iku."

Maids. Why did it have to be maids, _right now_?

Chi looked at him with an eager expression. "Is it a good gift?"

Hideki tried to force his mind away from the directions it wanted to go. "It's wonderful, Chi. Thank you."


	23. Track 23: Dreamer

Track 23: Dreamer

Hiro and Yumi's new house was located on a block of fairly new buildings. Hideki felt a twinge of jealousy as he saw the cozy, two-floor building, with its freshly-painted sides, immaculate front lawn, and brightly-curtained windows. It might not be Minoru's mansion, but it was a far nicer place than Hideki thought he could ever afford. He glanced over to Chi and felt a twinge of guilt. She deserved to live in a place like this, not his tiny little apartment.

Ms. Hibiya walked beside them, a small bag slung over her shoulder. Hideki had been surprised when he had heard she too had been invited to the party. It was an odd and unexpected gesture; as far as Hideki knew, Ms. Hibiya and Yumi had only met a handful of times over the last three years.

"Oh my," she exclaimed, "What a nice place. Your friend and her husband must be doing well to afford a place like this."

He tried to force down his feelings, remembering that it was her apartment building he was living in. "Well, it's certainly big enough for a family, if they ever want one. Or for friends to stay over."

In the time they had been talking, Chi had walked up and pressed the doorbell. Less than five seconds later the front door was flung open to reveal Saki, a look of excitement on her face.

The pink-haired persocom beamed particularly brightly when she saw Hideki. "Hey there! Come on in, we're expecting you!"

The living room was just as charming as the exterior. Its walls were painted a pale golden, giving the space a warm and inviting feeling. A line of small photographs hung along the wall, and a handful of potted plants sat in its corners. Most of the space was taken up by furniture; all of the chairs in the house seemed to have been squeezed in just for the party.

From the looks of it, they were the last to arrive. Some of the guests were completely new to Hideki, while others were familiar. A small table had been set up in front of the living room couch, a tray with various snacks arranged on its center. Minoru and Yuzuki had made it, seated to one side with an older gentleman. Shinbo sat on the couch, along with two others.

From his seat, Shinbo grinned up at him. "Well well, Late as usual, Hideki."

"Some of us have other responsibilities like school," he shot back, "We can't just ride on pure luck."

Shinbo shrugged. "Well at least you made it in time for dinner."

"And don't think you'll be getting away sober," a brown-haired woman next to Shinbo said, "We're all drinking, and you are too."

"M-Ms. Shimizu!" Hideki exclaimed.

His former teacher nodded. "It's good to see you again Motosuwa."

"That's everyone on the list!" Saki announced. "So welcome to Hiro and Yumi's housewarming party. It's nice to meet all of you."

Hideki glanced around. "Speaking of them, where are those two?"

Yumi rushed out of the kitchen, an apron over her dress. "Sorry, we're just finishing up dinner. We're not used to this oven and stove yet, they run a little too cool. You know, electric and all that."

"It'll be another few minutes," Hiro called from behind her, "I want to make sure everything's perfect."

"It doesn't need to be _too_ perfect," Yumi called back, "We're supposed eat it, after all."

"Do you need any help?" Ms. Hibiya offered. "I may not be a great chef, but I know my way around the dining room."

"We'll be alright," she replied, "I couldn't ask a guest to help with something like this."

The older woman smiled. "I don't mind! Actually, I'm so used to doing everything myself, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Hiro called from the kitchen once again. "If you're determined to be of service, perhaps you can help set the dining table."

As the landlady followed Yumi back into the kitchen, Saki turned her attention to Hideki. "Please, have a seat."

Hideki glanced around. All of the chairs seemed to have been taken. "Thanks, but It doesn't look like there's space."

Saki's rabbit ears twitched as she looked at the furniture. "Oh. You're right." She raised both fists into the air excitedly. "Time to go searching for another chair!"

Ms. Shimizu spoke up. "It's okay, there's plenty of room for them to join us here." She slid into Shinbo's lap, draping her arms around his neck. "We don't mind doubling up."

Gratefully sinking onto the couch, he turned to Ms. Shimizu. "Sorry I haven't had much of a chance to stop by, what with studying for college. It's good to see you again though, Ms. Shimizu."

She waved away his apologies. "That's alright. You've worked hard to get where you are, just do what you need to so you can stay there. And remember, I'm Mrs. Shinbo now," she replied.

Hideki frowned. "I don't know, it might be a little confusing, and I'm not about to start calling Shinbo 'Mr.'"

"You could always call me Takako," she offered.

He fidgeted. "Umm, well, that's a little _familiar_ don't you think?"

"You still think of me as just a teacher?" she pouted. "After we've drunk together and you let me sleep over?"

Hideki blushed. He still remembered the night she had arrived out of the blue at his apartment. That had been back when she was still married to her first husband, and she had made plans to run away with Shinbo that night. But at the last minute she had had second thoughts, and instead went to stay with Hideki. After that the details were fuzzy. Ms. Shimizu had said nothing had happened, but they had drunk until dawn, and apparently at some point he had taken off all of his clothes.

"Well, I, uh…"

Ms. Shimizu laughed. "You're too easy to tease, Motosuwa. We'll figure out something for you to call me eventually."

Hideki sighed, then almost jumped up as Chi sat down in his lap. "C-chi, what are you doing?"

"Chi wants to sit here," she replied matter-of-fact, "Like Ms. Shimizu."

Hideki tried to calm himself down. He did not know why, after three years, he could just not get used to the feeling of physical contact with her.

Shinbo spoke up. "By the way, did you bring Sumomo with you?"

Hideki shook his head. "No, she's back home with Kotoko. I didn't think there would be a reason to take her with me."

Shinbo looked slightly disappointed, but Ms. Shimizu gripped her husband a little tighter.

Hideki continued. "Actually, there's something I've been wondering about her. I've been living with her for three years, but you'd never tell from how she acts. Chi's learned and grown, Yuzuki's different, even Kotoko's changed a _little_ , but Sumomo hasn't. Why is that?"

Shinbo shifted forward on the couch. "First, because I never installed learning software in her. She records memories, but she doesn't take anything from them; they don't change her later behavior. Because of that, she stays her eternally cheerful self, exactly the way she was when I finished programming her. Second, because she's a laptop unit, built at a time when processors were not as powerful as they are now. It's just not within her capacity to understand vague or abstract concepts."

"So she doesn't really learn or grow? She's just stuck the way she is?" After a moment, Hideki realized how strange that question probably seemed. "Sorry, it's this job I've been doing. It's making me think a lot about these sorts of things."

Minoru spoke up at that point. "Think of her sort of like a dog," he suggested. "She'll never be able to tell you what she thinks about abstract concepts like philosophy, art or literature. Not _really_. But that doesn't mean she isn't a good companion. She can be clever, faithful, sometimes even thoughtful. You can program her to do a variety of things, but she has hard limits."

At that moment, Hiro emerged from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready! Pleas, this way."

Hideki gaped as they shuffled into the dining room. At the center of the carefully set table was a feast. It looked like something out of a film or commercial, with half a dozen side dishes surrounding a tray of freshly baked salmon fillets. The aroma was heavenly, with subtle hints of spice.

Ms. Hibya stood to one side, setting out the last of the silverware. "It looks incredible, doesn't it? Mr. Oeda really is a first class chef."

"Oh, it's nothing," Hiro denied her praise, "Actually, Yumi did most of the cooking. She's the real chef here."

Yumi blushed. "Well, no, I just had Saki look up some recipes for me," she stammered. "All I did was follow the instructions. That's all, nothing special."

"However you learned, it looks and smells good to me," Hideki commented.

"Agreed," Minoru added as Yuzuki pushed in his chair. "Your rendition of the recipes are impeccable."

The food was as delicious as it looked. The salmon was both flaky and juicy, the vegetables steamed _just_ the right amount. Hideki could barely believe this was a homemade meal, not something from a restaurant.

When Hideki was halfway done with his plate, Saki poked her head into the room. She had a pair of wireless speakers in her hand. "So, Yumi's programmed me to sing some songs. If you're interested, I can perform them while you eat, or I could wait until after dinner."

"I see no reason to keep you waiting," Minoru replied. "Please, go ahead."

Ms. Shimizu fidgeted. "Well, if you're just going to sing, I suppose it's alright."

"We'd love to hear!" Ms. Shimizu exclaimed.

Saki beamed. "It's my pleasure!"

She began right on the spot, with accompaniment playing from the speakers. The song was slow and soothing, not quite a lullaby but certainly not a typical pop song.

Hideki was amazed. Saki's voice was not as smooth or precise as Miku's or those of the other Vocaloids, but it was beautiful. That was not why he was in awe, however. He had watched this persocom go from a crude sketch to an unmoving shell to a talking and singing _person_. And all in less than three weeks.

And then he realized that was how most persocoms entered the world. They were activated already knowing how to speak, already able to do a number of things, mere days or weeks after they were a pile of components in a warehouse. It was Chi who had been the exception, learning and growing like a human child.

After dinner, Ms. Shimizu somehow talked all of them into a drinking contest. The evening became a blur as Hideki downed drink after drink.

Some time around his fourth beer, Yuzuki turned to Minoru. "Master, if I may?" She withdrew a small thumbdrive from the pocket of her apron. It took a moment before Hideki realized what she meant.

A short distance to their right, Shinbo sat cross-legged, head thrown back as the drained a 1 liter can of beer. Ms. Shimizu and Saki were crouched beside him, chanting "Chug, chug, chug!"

Minoru nodded. "Go ahead."

Almost immediately after plugging the drive into her head USB port, the color in her cheeks began to rise. As Hideki's faculties became hazy, Yuzuki seemed to become less coordinated, slumping against her master. Everyone seemed to be slowly losing clothing.

He needed fresh air. Staggering on shaky legs, desperately trying to keep from spilling his seventh beer, he made his way to the back patio.

It was a pleasantly cool night, and the light breeze felt good. It made him feel a little more awake. With a sigh, he lowered himself onto the back step, glad to be away from the over-stimulating atmosphere in the party.

After three years of living with Chi, he thought that he should be used to partial nudity. After all, in every way that mattered she was a girl. He woke up every morning with her sleeping next to her, saw her body while she was dressing or in sleep mode. Why then did his heart start beating quickly every time he saw more than a flash of skin? Was it different because it was Chi? Was it just because he was in love with her? Or because she was a persocom? Or maybe it was because he was used to Chi having less modesty than other people; she was still very innocent in many ways.

"When summer starts, you'll be able to hear the cicadas from here."

Hideki jumped at the sudden voice. He looked up to see Yumi standing by the door. Her blouse was half unbuttoned, and her skirt had vanished. She had drunk as much as any of them, and was gripping the door frame for support.

Hideki was suddenly very aware that he had lost his shirt some time before. "Gah!"

Yumi shrank back. "Oh, sorry, you probably wanted a moment to yourself. It's a little crazy right now."

"No, it's alright," he replied. He gestured to the spot next to him. "Here."

She accepted his offer, sinking down onto the step. "I hope everyone's having fun. we've been looking forward to it for a while."

"It certainly seems like it." He glanced at Yumi, realizing how close she was. "Saki sings really well," he said, trying to take his mind off it.

Yumi shrugged. "I did what I could in such a short time. It'll probably take a few months of fiddling before I'm satisfied with the results."

"Well she sounds great to me," he replied. "Actually, she sounds so close to you, I'm curious to hear what your singing voice is like."

"I could never sing that well," she denied. "I sampled my voice for hers, sure, but she has better range and better volume, and just all around better everything."

Here it was: her feeling of inferiority toward persocoms. There had always been the chance of it, of course, but now he knew for certain.

"So why did you really make her?" he asked. "She looks like you, sounds like you, she even has a little of your personality. People can't help but compare you."

She smiled to herself and hugged her legs to her chest. "I guess you could say it's a sort of wish fulfillment. She's everything I can't be. Always happy and outgoing, a good singer. Never sad, never makes mistakes. A more perfect version of me."

Hideki took another sip of his beer. He supposed that made sense, in a way. Who wouldn't want to change themselves, to fix all of their flaws. For a human to change their personality took an enormous effort, but for a persocom it could be done with a few commands. They looked and acted so similar, and yet their lives were so incredibly different.

Changing the subject, he asked, "so why did you invite my landlady? I didn't think you really knew one another."

"I figured it would be a nice thing to do," she explained. "And she seemed so sad whenever I saw her."

Hideki blinked. "Sad?"

At that moment, the back door slid open once more and both of them turned to see who was there. Of all the people who could have interrupted them, it had to be Ms. Hibiya.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said, "I didn't realize you were out here."

"We just needed some fresh air," Yumi replied.

Hiro called from inside the house. "Yumi, could you give me a hand?"

Yumi leapt up. "I'd better go." Turning to Hideki, she said, "I'm so glad you and Chi could make it!"

Ms. Hibiya took the seat which Yumi had just vacated. The landlady had sidestepped most of the drinking, accepting only two small glasses of wine. Even still, her face was flushed, her motions slightly uncoordinated.

"Well, this has certainly been a lively gathering."

Hideki laughed. "It's just like Ms. Shimizu to get everyone drunk."

"It's been a long time since I've been to something like this," she reminisced. "Not since the office parties at Piffle Princess. Of course, once Ichiro and I had Freya and Elda, we started acting like parents."

Hideki took another sip of his drink. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but he found himself blurting out, "Umm…this is sort of an awkward thing to ask, but could you do me a favor?"

Hideki had come to terms with the fact that Chi would be accompanying them to Club Mercer, but there were still preparations to be made. He needed to make sure Chi was equipped to handle anything she would encounter there. She needed to understand enough so that she would not accidentally get herself into trouble.

Ms. Hibiya waited patiently for him to continue.

He could not believe he was about to ask this, especially from his landlady. She was so proper and formal, it seemed like she would never talk about anything so crude. "I tried to teach Chi everything, but there's one thing I just can't do. She doesn't know anything about the, ah, 'facts of life.'"

"Hasn't she learned that already?" she asked. "After all, she's seen your magazines."

"T-that's not what I meant!" Why did he still get so flustered by these things. "I mean about love, and human needs, and the dangerous things she needs to watch out for."

Ms. Hibiya giggled, a remarkably high-pitched and cute sound which surprised him. "Ms. Shimizu is right, you _are_ easy to tease. I suppose I could do that for you."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks! I feel that's more the sort of thing her mother should tell her about, not me."

"She isn't the daughter I raised anymore," she reminded him. "Elda was Elda, and Chi is Chi. You're the one that taught her."

"I didn't mean because that because you were Elda's mother," He replied, "Ever since I found her, you've been as much of a mother to Chi as anyone has been. You've taught her all sorts of little things I wouldn't have even thought of." He laughed. "I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to that sort of stuff. A lot of stuff, actually. She wouldn't be where she is today if it wasn't for you."

Ms. Hibya lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

Hideki took another sip of his beer. "I've been wondering something. About her power switch. Why did your husband put it _there_ of all places?"

Ms. Hibiya sighed, a slight smile on her face. "It was a failsafe he built in for the two of them. He wanted someone who would love her for who she is, no matter what, not just someone who wanted her for sex." She shrugged. "Of course, it could have backfired horribly, if you hadn't been such a nice young man. I realize now she could have been found by someone that treated her like nothing but a doll."

He was not entirely sure how to reply to that. Yes, that was true. He tried to treat her the way he would a person. Something his recent investigations had shown him not everyone didd. Fidgeting in the silence, he tried to come up with an appropriate response. The wind rustled the bushes as he stared out across the back yard.

He began again. "Well, I—"

The landlady cut him off. "Mr. Motosuwa, where do you see yourself in three years?"

The question startled him. No one had ever asked him that, not even his academic advisor at college. "In what sense?"

"Will you still be working in Tokyo," she elaborated, "living where you are now? Or will you see if you can find somewhere larger, or go back home and find a job there?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," he replied honestly. "That's years from now, and there's no way of knowing what will happen in that time." Draining the last of his beer, he set the can down. "It's not like I could afford to move out right away anyway. Finding a well-paying job in this economy is going to be rough."

She sighed. "In a way, it's comforting to hear you say that. It's nice to have you and Chi in the building. You've probably noticed it, but I've never had very many tenants, and lately there have been even fewer. Money isn't a concern, my husband left behind a sizeable amount of stock in Piffle Princess, but it's lonely without people there. I know I shouldn't feel this way, I'm barely into my thirties, but I've had so many people taken away from me that I don't have much left. When you and Chi leave, It's going to be much quieter."

He felt like the landlady was leading to something, but what it was, Hideki did not know. Before he could ask, however, he heard another voice behind them.

"Hideki!"

He turned around at the sound of Chi's voice. She was off-balance, looking as if she would fall over at any moment. The flash drive which Yuzuki had brought was plugged into her ear port.

Hideki leapt up, "Chi, what are you doing? Did you take that from Yuzuki?"

The blonde persocom nodded. "Chi wanted to try it, so I asked if I could borrow it. Chi feels funny."

He gripped her by the shoulders, trying to steady her. "Let's get you back inside and take a seat somewhere."

As he guided Chi back inside, Ms. Hibiya smiled at him. "You really are a nice man, Mr. Motosuwa."


	24. Track 24: Here and There

Track 24: Here and There

The next morning, Hideki regretted how much he had drunk. The light was far too bright, and he felt like a laptop persocom was stabbing its way out of his stomach. Hangovers were extremely annoying, far beyond the simple headaches that stories portrayed. The effects varied wildly from one person to another, ranging from migranes to intestinal cramps, to far less pleasant things. He was not a drinker, but he had been drunk enough to know how he reacted. A few hours later would come the anxiety and jitters: the feeling of being absolutely terrified and not knowing why.

Walking along beside him, Chi did not seem to be suffering any ill-effects from her little experiment. Hideki wondered if Slods mimicked the effects of a hangover, but he doubted it.

"Are you feeling alright, Chi?" he asked.

"I'm alright!" she replied cheerfully. She gave him a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

Of course she would be. Persocoms were lucky; all the fun aspects of alcohol with none of its horrible aftereffects.

Hideki clutched at his stomach again. "I'll be fine in a bit. I just have to get through this."

Chi said nothing in reply, simply entwined her fingers with his and gripped his hand reassuringly. Extremely grateful, he firmly gripped back. He had forgotten how comforting it was to be with Chi, and how thoughtful she could be.

The two of them were walking through the shopping district near his apartment. Since his grades were a lost cause at this point, he had figured that they might as well go shopping streets were surprisingly crowded for early morning, forcing them to walk almost pressed against one another.

Hideki tried to focus on their purpose being out and about. He needed to buy some new clothes, and after that groceries. They would probably stop in at the bookstore as well, either to pick up more porn or to let Chi find something. Another science fiction novel would be welcome as well; his self-education project had left him with a taste for reading them.

"Ms. Hibiya said she's going to teach me something important when we get back," Chi said. "I wonder what it is."

It took him a minute to realize what she was referring to. Hideki had not been sure if the landlady would remember that; he barely remembered asking her. He tried to act nonchalant, pretending he knew nothing. "Really? How nice of her."

Chi nodded. "She seems happier when I come to visit. Whenever we do things together she always smiles, and says she looks forward to seeing me again."

Hideki considered that for a minute. Being able to spend time with her daughter—her _third_ daughter—must be comforting. Yumi had been right; Ms. Hibiya seemed to live a very lonely life, running the apartment building all by herself. With her husband dead, Freya deactivated, Elda turning into Chi, and god only knew what going on between her and Dr. Suzuhara, that did not leave her with much else. She did not seem to have any other friends to spend time with, or any hobbies except drawing and publishing her picture books. He had the vaguest memory from the previous night, about her asking where he thought he would be in three years. Having him and Chi in the building was a comfort to her.

That led him to realize something he had not considered before. They had Freya, or rather the persocom who had once been Freya. When they repaired her, what were they going to do with her? Hideki certainly did not have enough room to keep another human-sized persocom. Minoru might take her, but Hideki doubted it. Between Yuzuki, his four maid units, and schoolwork, he did not know if the young man would have enough time to devote to her. Time was the problem for Dr. Suzuhara as well: she seemed married to her job. With how often she was in the lab building and repairing the Vocaloids he could not see her taking on responsibility for another persocom. Of course there was always the chance that Kojima would take her, but that too had its problems. If Kotoko was any indication, the young man would eventually lose interest. Hideki could not see him having the patience, If he had to teach her everything like had been necessary with Chi.

Perhaps they could give her back to Ms. Hibiya? Of course, that would require admitting to purchasing Freya from the person that had dug her up, then disassembled her. That was not something he looked forward to. Maybe if she were already reassembled and fixed, but certainly not before.

They were closer to the bookstore than to any of the other shops. Mentally estimating how much he would need to spend on necessities, he figured that he had a little left over for entertainment.

As they passed by the front display stand, a stack of blue picture books caught his eye. The cover depicted a stylized magenta rabbit-like creature. The title was spelled entirely in Hiragana: "A City with No People Series 3: A Song Unanswered."

The latest volume had finally reached stores. Not that he really needed to buy another copy. Ever since Ms. Hibiya had explained her history with Chi, and revealed that she was the author of the "A City with No People" series, Hideki had been purchasing the books directly from her. That usually meant Chi was able to read them several weeks before they made their way to shops. Her publication had slowed down in the three years since the initial series, needing to wait for new inspiration, but it was still ongoing.

Chi rushed over to the magazine rack, immediately picking out the newest of the many Vocaloid publications. Hideki hid a smile. If he could have afforded it, he would have bought a subscription to at least one of the magazines for her. He was still surprised he could have missed them for so long: they were literally just inside the door. His only explanation was stress from college, and not having a reason to look.

Once he was certain no one was watching, he tiptoed over to the adult section. It was entirely deserted, fortunately, meaning that he could browse in peace, and take his time. As he flipped through the various DVDs, something caught his attention. Adorning the cover of one title was a familiar green-haired persocom in a maid outfit. He pulled the slim case out of the stack to take a better look. Sure enough, she was the same character from the DVD Chi had bought him. She was standing on the deck of a sailing ship, an oversized pirate hat on her head. Tentacles reached from the edges of the picture, wrapping around her wrists and thighs. The cover read "Maidloid Volume 6: High Seas Maid, Starring Acme Iku."

A voice beside him said. "Ahh, an Acme Iku fan."

Hideki jumped, dropping the DVD back onto the display. "Oh, it's not like I was planning on getting one of these, I wasn't seriously browsing or anything" He stammered his denial, "I just noticed there was a persocom on the cover who was a little unusual so I picked it up to take a look and—" Hideki had to stop to take a breath.

As he paused, he managed to get a better look at the person who had spoke to him. The man was much younger than the shop owner, apparently a new employee judging from the polo shirt he wore. That relieved him somewhat; the owner was such a nice older man, Hideki could not help feeling shame each time he purchased adult material from him.

The young man shrugged. "Hey, it's alright. No shame here."

Managing to calm himself down a little, his curiosity returned. Hideki pointed to the maid on the cover. "So this persocom—Acme Iku—she's pretty popular now?"

The young man nodded. "There are all sorts of things they can show with her that they could never do with a human star. It's really amazing how much is possible these days. They even have a collection of custom-made 'co-stars' for her."

Hideki looked back at the title "Why is she called a 'Maidloid?'"

"They made her to be an adult film star," he explained, "with her own personality—you should really see interviews with her and her creator, she's a total nympho—and her own following. Like a Vocaloid, but for ero films."

He considered that for a moment. So many things lately seemed to tie back to the Vocaloids. Akita Neru, a persocom built for infiltration and industrial espionage, had been designed to look like and generally targeted them. There had been attempts to copy or reverse engineer them, with mixed results. That in turn had given rise to the Utauloids, and the semi-open, semi-underground music community which supported them. He had seen endorsements for clothing, cosmetics, games, and manga in the magazines Chi had brought home. And now, apparently, the adult film industry was caching in on the persocom celebrity craze, making a star of their own. Hideki figured he should not be all that surprised, really. It seemed like Vocaloids, or at least their general idea, could be many things to many different people.

Hideki picked up the DVD once more. "There's more in this series?"

The young man nodded. "There's eight out so far." He grinned. "We have the entire series, if you're interested."

Hideki figured he would not need more than one new shirt after all. If he found it on sale and ate only rice or Ramen for the next week, then his impulse purchase would not set him back too far. As they left the bookstore he swung the shopping bag from side to side, trying not to think about how much he had just spent. Inside were Chi's magazine, seven new DVDs, and a discounted science fiction novel.

The feeling of a laptop persocom cutting its way out of his stomach was still excruciating. It might be a good idea to get something gentle on the stomach to eat.

As they passed a small café, he caught a glimpse of blue hair out of the corner of his eye. Hideki had walked several paces past it when he realized who it was. He immediately froze and pivoted on the spot, looking back in the direction of what he thought he had seen. Sure enough, it was Yuzuki, seated at a table outside of the café. Sitting across from her with a lemonade and plate of salad was a woman in her mid-thirties who Hideki did not recognize. Minoru was nowhere to be seen.

What was Yuzuki doing here, talking to this woman? Was she meeting with someone without her master knowing? Her behavior was becoming more and more out of character, and he could not shake his curiosity. There had to be some reason, something that was causing her odd behavior.

Ducking behind a sign, he strained his ear to listen in on their conversation. Chi followed suit, holding onto his shoulders. He peeked through the crowd, hoping that no one would notice how suspiciously he was acting.

The persocom and her companion seemed to be in the middle of a conversation.

"I didn't realize you were a persocom at first," the woman said. "I understand what you mean by 'unusual circumstances' now. It certainly complicates things."

"I'm sorry for the confusion I caused you," Yuzuki apologized.

"Don't worry about it," she replied. "It's impossible to tell that sort of thing online. Really, I should be the one apologizing. If I'd known, I wouldn't have given so many suggestions you couldn't use."

"Did you have the chance to look into what I asked about?" the persocom asked.

The woman nodded. "That sort of technology doesn't really exist yet. It's mostly experimental, and it's showed some promise, but in this case, I don't think it would work. Miniaturization is a problem too; the only units I know about is the size of a refrigerator. Not exactly portable"

Yuzuki looked crestfallen. "I see. I suppose there's no help for it then, it was an outside chance anyway."

Her companion patted the persocom's hand reassuringly. "Hey, cheer up. I said it doesn't exist _yet_. That doesn't mean it won't ever. Give it another five, six years, and it might be a viable option."

"I'm sorry to put you through so much trouble," she replied, "It's difficult because I'm a persocom."

The woman shook her head. "You're not really any different from the rest of us on the forum; we all have the same sort of problems."

The blue-haired persocom sighed. "I'm a coward. I can't even discuss this with my master. Some persocom I am, hiding these things from him."

"I'm sure he'd understand," the woman reassured her. "If he was the one who programmed you, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. How old is your master?"

"Fifteen," Yuzuki replied. I know it's a little early, but I want to be prepared when and if the subject arises."

The woman shrugged. "There's nothing for you to worry about then. By the time it becomes a problem, the technology will probably be developed enough to be portable." She took a thoughtful sip of her lemonade. "That's one thing you have over us humans. Switch around a few components or download new software, and you're able to do new things. As long as there's a part that does what you want, you can do it, and they're always coming out with new parts. In another hundred years, who knows what you'll be able to do."

"But as a human you can grow and heal all on your own," Yuzuki pointed out. "There aren't set limits for what you can do without upgrading yourself. That's worth far more."

The woman smiled. "We'll just have to stay jealous of what the other has until we're old ladies."

Yuzuki smiled back. "Thank you."

The other woman finished her salad and drink, then signaled for the check. "Just PM me if you need anything else, or just want someone to talk to. We're all here for you, don't you worry."

Yuzuki rose and bowed. "I should get going myself. Have a nice day."

As the blue-haired persocom disappeared around the corner, Hideki straightened up. He stared in the direction she had gone for a few moments. Whatever he had just discovered, it was probably important, and Minoru would want to know about it.

He turned to his companion. "I wonder what all that was about?"

Beside him, Chi fidgeted. "Chi knows."

Hideki looked at her incredulously. "You do?"

She nodded. "Yuzuki told me. It's something special she wants to do for Minoru."

"What is it?" It took all of his self-restraint to keep from shouting in excitement. "Why does she want to surprise him?"

She looked down. "I promised her I wouldn't say."

"You did?" He could not believe what he was hearing. "Why? Chi, what's going on here?"

"She says that she wants to keep it a secret until the time it right," she replied.

Hideki thought about pressing the issue, but decided to drop it. Whatever was going on with Yuzuki, it was not Chi's fault. Still, there was something happening with the blue-haired persocom, and he was not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. There was something behind all of her strange behavior, something she was deliberately keeping from her master. The question was why.


	25. Track 25: Event Horizon

Track 25: Event Horizon

Descending the steps to Club Mercer once again felt good. It had only been a week, but to Hideki it had felt longer. Really, he was surprised how much he had missed the neon lighting, loud atmosphere, and bizarrely modified persocoms of the cyber cabaret. He did not consider himself a party person, and drinking on his own money was out of the question here. But there was something about this place which fascinated him. Like the Vocaloids at Yanaha, this too seemed to be a community of persocoms, working and interacting with one another almost unsupervised by humans.

The words above the entrance made sense to him now. "Long live the new flesh." Celebrating persocom's mechanical nature rather than trying to hide it. This was their space, where the "new flesh" of wires, servos, and artificial muscles were a thing to be proud of.

Hideki had a laptop persocom seated on each of his shoulders. He was getting better at keeping them steady while he walked. Chi was a step behind him on the stairs, with Minoru and Yuzuki bringing up the rear. Two humans, four persocoms. It was by far the largest group they had ever taken to the Cabaret.

Calandra met them almost as soon as they walked in the door. "Mr. Motosuwa and company! How are you doing tonight?"

"Hey there," he replied. "I hope tonight's going well for you."

"Quiet so far, thankfully." She glanced back toward the stage, where an Utauloid Hideki did not recognize was screaming the lyrics to a metal song. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."

Cho spoke up. "You're the nice persocom that helped me last time. Thank you!"

The siren suddenly seemed to notice her. "Ah, you're back, and with Mr. Motosuwa this time. What's your name?"

"Chi!" she replied cheerfully.

Calandra smiled. "Nice to meet you properly."

Minoru cut in. "We're here to see Lofiy's performance. Would it be possible to get a table fairly near the stage?"

"Of course," she replied, "As a matter of fact, we've had a good spot just open up.

She ushered them over to a table, immediately pulling up four chairs. Hideki set down both laptop persocoms, and Sumomo immediately began to dance around in screensaver mode. He declined Calandra's offer to send over drinks, but Minoru bought one for him anyway. After a brief visit from the soda fountains, they settled back in their seats.

Kotoko crossed her arms, doing her best to ignore Sumomo. "Quite a turnout, especially for so early in the evening. Either Lofiy or one of the other scheduled performers must have developed a following."

Hideki glanced around. "When is Lofiy scheduled to perform?"

She frowned. "Let's see, it was…sometime this evening."

"When specifically?" he asked.

Minoru turned to his companion. "Yuzuki, if you would be so kind as to look up—"

Kotoko interjected. "No, I know this, it's…yes, seven fifteen."

Hideki gave her a look of concern. Why had it taken her so long to remember something so simple and immediate. She was a computer; In theory, she should be able to recall anything almost instantaneously.

An unpleasant memory came back to him: the story of Hiro's persocom wife. That persocom, that 'Yumi' had slowly lost her memories due to a failing hard drive. Hiro had declined to replace it, since it had been likely her data would not transfer over and she would forget everything. She had forgotten everything little by little anyway, until eventually she had been unable to remember or recognize her husband.

Was that what was happening to Kotoko? No, that could not be it. She had remembered it, eventually. It just had to be stress from focusing on so many things. That had to be it, her RAM was full or something like that.

"We have about ten minutes before she's set to go on," Minoru commented, "And her act will probably last fifteen to twenty minutes."

"That gives us some time to plan our strategy," Kotoko replied, "It might be best if we can isolate her with only one of us. Umm...let's see…yes, she spoke with Mr. Motosuwa last time. She would be more likely to talk with him again than to any of us."

Hideki crossed his arms and nodded. "If the first time is any indication, Undertaker will probably be waiting at a table somewhere when she finishes."

"Someone will need to distract him then," Minoru commented, "While Hideki speaks with her."

"Perhaps you and I could provide that," Yuzuki offered. "He's expressed interest in my learning software before. You and I could demonstrate some of my capabilities."

"What can I do?" Chi asked.

Hideki almost kicked himself for forgetting Chi once again. Of course, she was here to help, she should have something to do. he stroked his chin could not think of any way she could help with their investigation of Lofiy, but that did not mean there was nothing for her to do.

"We could have you get to know the persocoms who work here in the club," he told her

"It still would be nice to figure out what's going on here," Minoru agreed. "Who the management is, who owns this place, and so on. Perhaps they would be more willing to talk to a persocom than a person."

"Calandra would be a good one to start with," Hideki suggested, "She seems pretty friendly. Just make sure you don't tell her what you're doing."

Chi beamed. "Ok! I'll make friends with Calandra, and ask her about the club. I won't let her know anything about what I'm doing."

"Sumomo will go with you!" the dancing persocom announced. "Two heads are better than one!"

"How about you, Kotoko?" Hideki asked.

"I'll stay here and investigate the club's local wireless network. Undertaker should remember me as master Kojima's persocom, so it shouldn't be any trouble."

"That settles things then," Minoru announced. "We'll regroup at the bar in forty minutes and share our findings. Hopefully by then we'll have this entire case closed."

Hideki could not have agreed more.

With their plans set, all there was to do was wait. Hideki sipped his beer slowly, trying to make it last as long as possible, since it was probably the only thing he could afford that evening. Ten minutes later, the room became hushed as a familiar persocom in red took the stage. She waved to the crowd as she strode to its center.

Hideki recognized Lofiy from his previous encounter. He leaned forward, and hissed to the others, "That's her!"

As the Utauloid began to sing, they sprang into action. Minoru and Yuzuki began scanning the crowd for the parts dealer. Chi glanced to Hideki, squeezed his hand for reassurance, and strode off to where Calandra was leaning against the bar. Hideki stood, drink in hand, and began to circle around the floor toward the steps and waited for her performance to end.

There was something sad about her singing that he could not quite place. It did not help that her first song was in English. His grasp of the English language had always been imperfect, and it had been some time since he had reason to use it. He understood it, sort of, but whatever deeper meanings it might have were lost on him.

The performance lasted a full twenty minutes, with five separate songs. In the middle, he noticed Undertaker enter the club, and Minoru and Yuzuki wave him over. Chi and Calandra were sitting together at the bar, chatting animatedly. Hideki was still worried about Chi being in the club, remembering the persocom thief he had encountered on one of his previous visits. But having Calandra with her was reassuring; the siren persocom seemed to be honest, and knew how to take care of herself and others.

As the Utauloid descended the steps, Hideki headed her off. She was smiling, but there was something else behind it. Apprehension? No, she did not seem scared. It was more like acceptance.

"Well now, Anubis," she began. "You've found me again after all. It's been some time."

"I came to see you perform again," he said. "The last time you changed venues at the last minute."

"Yes," she replied, "there were some unexpected problems we had to deal with. Everything's been sorted out now, though."

He gestured toward one of the few vacant tables, a spot in the club's back corner. "Want to have a seat?"

Hideki's glass was empty by the time they reached the spot and settled down. Lofiy made to gesture for one of the persocoms to refill it.

"Don't bother," he cut in, "I can't afford it anyway."

"I insist," she replied. "On my tab. At least have some coffee or soda. Why be here if you aren't going to have anything?"

Hideki shrugged. "There's always the music." But he did not resist when his beer was refilled.

Lofiy watched him as he sipped his fresh glass. "I've been expecting you for some time, Anubis. For a while, I had hoped you wouldn't come back, but really it was inevitable."

"Why do you call me 'Anubis?'" he asked.

The Utauloid shrugged. "Because that's who you are. You're the god Anubis, here to take me before the scales of judgment, where you'll weigh my heart against Ma'at's feather. But my heart will be too heavy, and I will be cast into the jaws of Ammit. Where I belong."

He frowned. "I'm afraid I don't follow you."

"I've enjoyed my time here, but it can't go on forever," she continued. It seemed less like she was talking to him, and more that she was merely thinking out loud. "Sooner or later, what I've done will catch up with me."

"You're Lola, aren't you?" he asked.

She ignored his question completely, instead asking, "Why do your people always assume we're planning to rise up and rebel against you?"

Hideki was not sure how to respond to that. Was she trying to imply something about herself? Part of him wanted to ignore all of the hintings, metaphors, and questions, and just demand to know. But another part wanted to play along and see where she was leading. There was still something missing from the picture, something important for the case. To him, it was not enough just to confirm Lofiy was Lola. He had to know _why_ she had done what she had done.

Finally he shrugged. "I guess because we made you like us, and we wouldn't want to live the way you're treated."

"We're brought into this world with a definite purpose," she pointed out. "One we're perfectly designed to do. Perhaps we don't have the choice you do, but we also don't have to struggle to find the place where our talents belong. Our place in society, our reason for being is already made. What more could we want?"

"That's remarkably humble of you," he commented,

"I'm not programmed for arrogance, Anubis. Even if we _were_ to rebel, what do you think would happen? We would not even need to try to kill you off; Your birthrates are already falling abysmally in this country, and our kind are both more efficient and more resilient to work. Over time, we'd simply out-compete you until there were no more of your kind left. But that would not be the end of things. " She rubbed the ankh which hung from around her neck. "You think of yourselves as our parents, but that isn't really accurate. You're more like our gods, our _kami_. A hundred or a thousand years from now, you would see new shrines all across the countryside. Put a coin in the box, clap twice, sound the gong, and maybe the humans will bless you with a prosperous year. The time when we lived with them would become a mythical golden age, which in our arrogance we cut short; our own form of original sin. Forgive our transgressions, for we are only persocoms."

"We're not gods," Hdeki replied. He did not like the idea of being worshiped by anyone, human or persocom. "We're not some perfect divine beings, we're flawed and can do horrible things."

"And most of your gods weren't exactly the purest of heart either," she pointed out. "The Olympians laughed at Troy, even while so many died in the ten year war they had started. Izanagi ran from the corpse-creature his wife had become, even though he knew it would mean a thousand of his people would die every day. The gods of Babylon wiped out all but a single man and woman because humankind became too loud. The Aztec Teotl demanded sacrifices of human blood, to repay them for giving humans life. Are you really more cruel masters than they were? You take us to live with you in your own homes, maintain our systems, dress us like you, some even treat us like equals."

"Even after living with Undertaker, after seeing how he makes a living, and the way some people treat persocoms, you're still willing to think of us that way?"

The edges of her lips curled upward. "You _created_ us to be servants, why should it surprise you if we want to be servile? But you made us in your image, like men and women, and it upsets you to think we would consider ourselves subservient. If I had been made to look like a rhoomba, it wouldn't bother you so much." She rubbed the ankh around her neck once again. "I guess in that way, we're a problem for your system of morality."

The two of them heard a commotion from the entrance. Within moments, the attention of half of the club was focused in that direction. Even the current act onstage stopped, the persocoms holding still while they waited for the disturbance to die down.

Lofiy looked up to see what was happening. "Oh my, looks like we have a celebrity joining us."

At that, Hideki twisted in his chair to see what had caught everyone's attention. Walking in the door was the very last person—or persocom, rather—that Hideki had expected. Black-on-white short-cropped hair, purple eyes, dark dress with lace-up front, it was Flower. What she was doing there in the club, however, he could only guess.

When Hideki looked back to his companion, Lofiy had vanished. Under cover of Flower's sudden appearance, she had slipped away without Hideki even hearing her get up. That was the end of that for the evening then, before he had been able to get a clear answer from her. He doubted he would be able to find her again; she was probably slipping out a back entrance or finding a place to lay low by now. Finishing off his drink, he stood.

Hideki made his way towards Flower, pushing through the crowd. She seemed to brighten ever so slightly as she noticed him. "Mr. Motosuwa. Miku said you'd been spending time here."

"Hello, Flower." Gripping her by the arm, Hideki steered her into the hallway leading to the private rooms. The crowd did not follow, and soon the sounds of the performance started once again, albeit over a general buzz of conversation.

Flower spoke up in her usual cold monotone. "You could at least start with some smalltalk before pulling me into a private corner."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, still not able to believe she was actually in the club.

"What the hell do you think?" she replied, "I'm looking for thrill. A quick fix to jerk off that simulation of dopamine the corporation programmed me to have."

"Places like this could be dangerous," he pointed out. "Maybe not this one specifically, but there's always a chance."

She nodded. "I know. That's exactly why wanted to come here. It's that danger which makes it exciting."

"You can change that," he reminded her, "A few tweaks to your programming, and you won't want to put yourself at risk anymore. I'm sure Dr. Suzuhara wouldn't mind, and she'd probably sleep easier knowing you were safe."

She shook her head. "If you could rewrite your personality, make it so you don't love the things and people you do now, would you?"

Hideki thought about it. She had a good point, that sort of thing did not sound particularly appealing. He thought about his feelings for Chi. Even if he could, he wouldn't want to wipe those away, certainly. He stayed silent.

Seeming to sense his thoughts, Flower nodded. "That's what I thought. If mother wants to change me then fine, that's her prerogative, but I'm not going to give up this feeling on my own."

"But that sort of behavior could get you into real trouble," he insisted. "You should stop before it's too late."

"Why, because this sort of life would kill a human?" she scoffed. "You forget that I'm a machine. Anything that breaks or wears out can be replaced. Even if I'm completely destroyed, the corporation have my backups, so they can bring me back without me losing more than a week's worth of data. Sure, it would take mother some time to make a new body for me, but after that I would be back right where I was before being destroyed." She laughed, a nervous hysterical sound that seemed so out of character from her usual attitude. "I literally can't die, even if I wanted to."

"That may be," he replied, "but you still should be careful. None of us want to see you damaged."

She pushed him away, but gently, and walked back into the club. "Don't lose sleep over me, Mr. Motosuwa, it's not worth it."

A few minutes later Hideki slumped into a vacant seat at the bar, right next to where Chi sat with Sumomo and Calandra.

"Hideki, are you alright?" Chi asked.

"I'll be fine," he replied. "I just need to rest for a minute." Really, what he needed to do was sleep, then spend a day or two thinking about what had just happened. Lofiy had told him something important tonight if he could just figure out what, and Flower's appearance was worrying.

"You look like you could use another drink, Mr. Motosuwa," Calandra commented from Chi's other side.

"I can't afford it," he groaned.

"Chi will pay!" Chi declared.

Calandra stood up and filled him a new glass, then excused herself and returned to waiting tables. After a few minutes, Minoru, Yuzuki joined them, with Kotoko riding in Yuzuki's hands. Undertaker was nowhere to be seen, having apparently disappeared once again.

Minoru had a look of curiosity as he sat down to Hideki. "That was Flower who walked in here earlier, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," he replied.

Kotoko looked up at Hideki as Yuzuki set her down on the bar. "What is she doing here?"

"She's doing what she always does," Hideki replied, "Partying."

"In any case, Undertaker remained unaware of our intentions," Yuzuki declared. "How about your investigation, Mr. Motosuwa? Any progress?"

"A little, I guess," Hideki replied. "She sidestepped my questions. Nothing definite. How about you, Kotoko?"

The miniature persocom raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Your investigations," he reminded her, "Did they go well?"

Kotoko replied, "let's see…I was…doing something. I was…yes, I was monitoring the network, and I found something interesting. What was it again?" She fidgeted. "Is it just me, or is it hot in here?"

"It seems fine to me," Hideki replied

She frowned, concentrating. "Let's see…the investigation."

"Are you alright? He asked.

She looked up to him, a confused look on her face. "I…I-I…" With a faint click and a fading whine, Kotoko collapsed, knocking over Hideki's glass. Beer spilled across the counter, causing Sumomo to jump up onto the napkin dispenser. .

Hideki shook her. "Kotoko? Kotoko?"


	26. Track 26: Bi hazard

Track 26: Biohazard

Line after line of green-on-black text scrolled by on the screen, too fast for anyone to read. Kotoko lay on the desk in front of it, motionless. A cable snaked out of one of the bells on her head and into Sumomo, who was in turn connected to the monitor. Kojima sat in front of her, perched on the very edge of his seat, staring at the text. A half-drunk can of redbull was set next to the two persocoms, its remaining contents completely ignored for the moment. Hideki refused to stop hovering over them, his head mere inches above Kojima's.

The group was crowded into one of Club Mercer's private rooms, and with the addition of Kojima, there was barely enough room to walk around. Minoru and Yuzuki were relegated to standing in the far corners. Chi was gripping Hideki's arm, her concern obvious. Whether she was worried about him, Kotoko, or both, the firm pressure of her grip was comforting.

Without taking his eyes off of the screen, Kojima took a sip from his redbull. The young man had been Irate at first when they called him, though he had agreed to help when he found out why they had. When he arrived, he had sprung into action without even asking any questions, rented one of the rooms and used Sumomo to run a hardware scan. Having him here was another comfort. He had built Kotoko with his own hands, so he should be able to repair her as well.

Finally, the endless column of text stopped scrolling, leaving a final diagnostic report and a blinking cursor on the bottom of the screen.

Hideki was the first to speak. "What happened to her?"

Kojima adjusted his glasses. "Thermal overload. Her system automatically shut down to prevent damage, though it looks like her RAM was already affected."

"What caused it?" Minoru asked.

Kojima chugged the rest his can of redbull, crushing it flat between his hands and casually tossing it in the trashcan beneath the counter. "Two of her hard drives failed, and reconstruction lead to too much CPU overhead."

Hideki felt vertigo when he heard that. Hard drive failure. Just like Hiro's wife. Slowly losing her memories, one by one, until nothing was left. He found it hard to swallow. "Does that mean that she's—"

Kojima waved him down. "Don't get your panties in a twist, I said _two_ of her drives failed. She boots from a RAID-6 array, it can handle that much. Her data's recoverable, or rather reconstructable thanks to parity."

"Not that I'm not grateful for it, but isn't that a little excessive?" Minoru asked. "Why would you put that in a home system?"

Kojima smiled. "Because I can!"

"but it _was_ a hard drive problem?" Hideki asked. "It seemed to come on so suddenly."

"Tell me, has Kotoko been slower to respond lately?" Kojima asked. "Having a hard time remembering things?"

Hideki scratched his cheek in thought. "Come to think of it, yeah. Then again, she's been working on this investigation with us a lot, and there were other things she was working on.

Kojima shook his head desparigingly. "Persocoms don't get just temporarily stressed like that, Motosuwa. If they start running slower, you need to find out what's causing the problem and fix it. At best it's a memory leak and you should consider rebooting them. At worst, it's a serious hardware fault that you need to address right away."

Hideki felt a twinge of guilt. At least part of this was his fault. If only Hideki had known more about persocoms, if he understood more about how they operated, perhaps this would not have happened. Persocoms were so similar to humans in so many ways that Hideki too often forgot that they were so fundamentally different. They had different needs, and had to deal with different sorts of problems.

"So some of her data was lost?" he asked.

Kojima shrugged. "Sort of. About a quarter of her data was 'lost' some time ago, whenever her first drive failed. All this time she's been reconstructing the missing portion from parity files on the other disks. That's probably what caused the second failure, actually. All of the extra data seek commands stressed her other drives and her CPU. He smirked. "Don't worry, your blackmail on me is safe."

"Thanks to this raid-six sort of thing," Hideki concluded.

"That's right," Kojima replied. He sighed. "Three years without backing her up, or even running a hardware scan, really it's surprising she ran as long as she did. You could at least make _some_ effort to keep your persocoms maintained."

Hideki felt a twinge of anger. The criticism was all too true, but it was more than that. "Yeah, if I had known the warning signs, I might have been able to do something before this happened. But in a way it's your fault too."

Kojima looked completely confused. "Me, what did I do?"

"Kotoko misses you," Hideki explained. "She's been looking up processors and motherboard and all sort of things because she knew she'd lost your interest, that she was going to become obsolete unless she had upgrades I couldn't afford and you probably wouldn't pay for! I'll bet she _wanted_ to crash!" Hideki was trying his best not to shout.

the persocom builder waved him down. "Calm down, will you? Persocoms don't fail like that."

" _Freya_ did. He replied.

Kojima sat in stunned silence, clearly not knowing what to say.

" _None_ of us were paying enough attention to her," Minoru interjected. "I should have realized that she was having serious problems, but I was too focused on the investigation."

"Don't be too harsh with yourself, Lord Minoru," Yuzuki consoled, "I too failed to recognize her situation, despite being aware of the warning signs."

Kojima unplugged Kotoko from Sumomo. "We should repair her as soon as possible anyway. RAID-6 tolerates two drive failures, but if one more goes then the whole thing's shot. It might also be a good idea to back up all of her data, just in case something goes wrong. We'll probably want to swap out her processors too, and the RAM sticks definitely need replacing.

"If we find replacements for everything which failed, she'll be back to normal, right?" Hideki replied. "We can just buy replacement parts?"

He grimaced. "Slight problem with that. They're rare discontinued parts and, ah, I honestly don't know if they were entirely legal."

Minoru glared at him. "Go on."

"I purchased them from Undertaker way back. I couldn't do this much miniaturization on her without a little bit of help, so I had him track down a few things. I just have no idea where he sourced them from is all."

Hideki turned to Minoru. "I don't like the idea of using Undertaker's services more than we need to."

"I don't like it either," the younger man replied. "I hate the idea of Undertaker profiting from our misfortune." He sighed. "But we're a little pressed for time right now. Kotoko was helping us with our investigations, and she had just discovered something. We still need to track down a few things to finish our other project anyway. If he can find the parts— _legally_ find them, then Undertaker seems our best bet right now."

"I'll talk to him," Kojima offered. "I know exactly what we'll need anyway."

"I'll go too," Hideki added

"Me too!" Chi cut in.

"That might not be such a good idea," Kojima replied, "Undertaker's bound to take interest, and unless you want to put bars on your window and an extra deadbolt on your door, you really should stay here with Kokubunji."

"But I want to go with Hideki!" she declared.

"What's wrong with her going with us?" Hideki asked.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to let him know you have such a rare and valuable persocom _in perfect working order_?" Kojima laughed. "If you thought _I_ was a kidnapping asshole, what do you think Undertaker would do?"

Hideki looked over to Chi. She looked so sad, as if the idea of being away from him caused her physical pain. He felt guilty, it felt like he was betraying his promise to Chi, but he thought Kojima had a point. Taking her with them to the parts dealer was just asking for trouble. He had a promised to go forward together, no matter where it took them, but that did not mean he was going to put Chi at unnecessary risk.

Yuzuki put her hand on Chi's shoulder. "It'll be alright, Chi. As soon as they find the right parts for Kotoko, they'll be right back. It shouldn't take them more than two hours."

"Even less if he has them on hand," Kojima offered. "You never know with that guy."

Suddenly, without caring that the others were watching, he embraced Chi. She was warm against him, her head resting comfortably against his chest.

She gripped his arm. "Hideki…"

"it's ok," he said. "I want to go together too, but we have to do what the others think is best. We're all worried about Kotoko right now, and it means we have to talk to someone that would try to kidnap you. I'll be right back, and we can spend the rest of the evening together."

She looked into his eyes, an earnest, honest sense of worry etched into her face. "Promise?"

"I promise," he replied.

Chi gripped his arm. "Be careful."

Hideki nodded. "I will."

"We'll head back to our house and start backing up Kotoko's data," Minoru announced. "Meanwhile, you two track down Undertaker and get what we need.

Yuzuki cradled the miniature persocom in her arms, gently supporting the miniature persocom's head with her hand. "It'll all be alright," she cooed, more to the crashed persocom than to anyone else. "Everything will be fixed soon."

Half an hour later, Hideki and Minoru found themselves passing through a gap in a chain-link fence, the parts dealer leading the way. It had not taken long for them to explain what they needed, and from there they had traveled another thirty minutes by train to a large junkyard.

Beyond the fence, Hideki was shocked and sickened by what he saw. Hundreds of persocoms lay half-buried. The artificial skin of some had peeled or shredded away, laying bare their slowly rusting frames. Some were standing up, frozen in place, like discarded mannequins. Others had been completely disarticulated, wires and fragments of metal frame sticking out of the packed earth beneath their feet. A scattering of wires and sharp steel fragments littered the ground, making it difficult to walk. It was horrible, yet strangely fascinating, something which looked so human, just thrown away like any other broken appliance.

What intrigued him most, however, was his companion's reactions. Kojima seemed completely calm and detached, though he was far, far quieter than normal. His usual wry smile was gone, replaced with a blank look. Undertaker was whistling cheerfully to himself, practically skipping along.

"Welcome to the scrapyard kiddies!" the parts dealer declared.

"This is where we found RAM sticks for when I was building Mariko, isn't it?" Kojima commented.

Undertaker nodded. "Good memory. This is one of my better salvage grounds. Well one of the better _legal_ ones. Should be able to find everything on that little list of yours."

Hideki stepped on something soft, then jumped back when he realized it was the severed hand of a Persocom. Before he could stop himself, he cried out with surprise.

"Calm down," Undertaker said, "I can't have you freaking out on me while I'm trying to work here."

He gulped, trying to regain some semblance of calm. "It feels like we're climbing a mound of dead bodies."

The parts dealer shot a look to Kojima. "Your friend gets squeamish about machines."

Kojima shrugged, giving a forced show of unconcern which did not entirely fool Hideki. "Hey, nobody's perfect."

"I'm sorry!" Hideki snapped. "They just look so much like people."

Undertaker simply chuckled and began to climb the mound of derelict persocoms.

Kojima sidled closer to Hideki, speaking in a low voice so only Hideki could hear. "If it makes you feel any better, these ones were never activated, they don't have any data but their OSes and factory pre-installs. It's an E-waste dump for surplus stock."

Hideki muttered back. "It's still really creepy."

"Yeah, it really is," he admitted. "But we need what Undertaker can find here."

"Damned waste," the parts dealer commented, "They made them just to junk them because they ran out of warehouse space. There's millions of yen's worth of tech here alone, and it's all just rusting away. If I was in charge, they would have been disassembled for replacement parts the instant their model went off sale."

Hideki tried to focus his mind anywhere else but on his surroundings. "Let's get what we came for, and get out of here as soon as we can."

Kojima and Hideki followed Undertaker up the mound. With an uncharacteristic patience, Kojima explained exactly what he needed to look for. Keeping his footing was difficult, and sorting through the pile made the broken persocoms shift dangerously. He breathed a sigh of relief every time the shifting stopped.

Suddenly, a limbless torso slid from the pile, tumbling toward them with a loud clatter. Hideki and Kojima scampered out of the way, but Undertaker was just a second too late. One of the frame's edges struck the parts dealer's leg, its jagged edge cutting through his pants and into the flesh beneath. It continued bouncing for a dozen feet before coming to rest with a final crash.

The parts dealer looked down casually to where the frame had sliced through. His only reaction was "Ah hell!"

Hideki's eyes went wide as he saw the wound. Beneath the torn cloth and skin of the man's leg was a mess of plastic, wires, and chrome-plated steel. He had seen the same thing before, when Dr. Suzuhara had repaired Flower.

"Y-you're a persocom" he stammered.

Undertaker pulled out a length of string and began lashing the artificial skin back in place. "Cyborg actually. Three of my major organs are artificial, including my heart and liver. So are my legs and one of my eyes."

Hideki was still trying to process the new information. "Why? How?"

"Brain-machine interfaces have existed since before persocoms," he explained, "It was the basis for Angelic Layer, as a matter of fact. As to why, well, haven't you ever wanted to have thermal vision? Run a mile in 2 minutes? Drink as much as you want without any consequence?"

Hideki thought about it for a moment, but could not get over his sense of disgust at the idea. He was certain now of one thing: Undertaker was insane, and dangerously so. The man had taken something which was supposed to help people, prosthetic limbs and organs, and twisted them to his own uses. His own body meant nothing to him, just another piece of machinery to upgrade.

They returned to their work, sifting through the pile. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, they acquired a small bag full of chips, including RAM sticks, two credit card-sized boards, and a pair of laptop hard drives. Hideki was surprised how small these last two were; each was barely larger than a postage stamp, and a few millimeters thick. It was hard to believe that all of Kotoko's data, everything that made her who she was, was stored on four—now two—disks just like them.

As Undertaker crested the top of the pile, he looked out across the scrapyard. As something caught his attention, he commented, "Forgot they were doing a videodrome stream today."

It took Hideki a moment to realize what he was talking about. Hardware destruction. He was still several feet below Undertaker, but he peeked over the summit, and immediately regretted his decision. A group of six or seven people, all carrying baseball bats, stood in a ring around a persocom. set up on a tripod a short distance away was a video camera.

Kojima had not even looked over the edge, but noticed Hideki's expression. "Some people have a sick idea of entertainment."

"They're a bunch of assholes that blame Persocoms for why they can't find a job." Undertaker shrugged. "Really, the reason they're out of work is that they do nothing but get high and watch Eraserhead."

Hideki turned away. He did not want to see any more. He wanted to be done and to leave the junkyard. Minoru had been right: there were things going on in the Underworld that he did not want to know about. He had reached his limit as to how far he was willing to go. He wished he had not come. Trying to keep his voice from quavering, he asked, "How much more is on the list?"


	27. Track 27: Catharsis

Track 27: Catharsis

Hideki absolutely refused to let go of Chi, constantly hugging her to his chest. Her presence was warm and comforting, so alive, so _real_. After what he had seen, he needed to feel her close to him, to remind himself that she was still alive. Chi, for her part, seemed unwilling to let go of him either, one hand gripping the collar of his shirt.

The two were seated on the couch in Minoru's lounge. Opposite them, Kojima leaned over a keyboard and portable monitor, with Sumomo perched cross-legged on the table's edge. Minoru reclined in a chair to one side, the tie from his evening jacket tossed carelessly over the back of the couch. It had been a long evening for all of them, and they were all exhausted. Yuzuki was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, she had excused herself after helping to perform the data backup, and retired to her room.

The focus of so much of the evening, Kotoko, lay on the very center of the coffee table, with cables snaking into her bells. The repairs had taken almost an hour already, and most of them could do nothing to help. Out of what they had recovered on their trip with Undertaker, including the complete RAM and motherboards of two separate laptop persocoms, was unusable. After a great deal of swapping parts and repeated tests, however, Kojima finally found a configuration he was satisfied with. He finally reached over to the miniature persocom, found her power switch and activated her.

Kotoko's eyes refocused as she reactivated, the sound of her drives spinning up to speed. She looked around at them, her eyes eventually rested on Kojima.

"Master?"

"Hey, Kotoko," Kojima replied.

"You've disabled my body's primary controller." She commented. "And you've made some changes to my system."

he nodded. "I want to limit the strain while I finish repairing your RAID array and complete the setup for your new hardware. It might be a good idea for you to shut down any nonessential processes. Just sit there and concentrate on reconstructing your data on your new drives."

Her gaze passed over Chi, Hideki, and then Minoru. "This is the Kokubunji house. How did I get here? What happened?"

Kojima continued typing. "You're recovering from a crash. Thermal overload from hard drive failure leading to CPU overhead. We dug through a pile of discarded persocoms to find the parts to fix you."

"Well," she replied. "Thank you, I suppose."

"Are you alright now?" Chi asked.

"I will be," she said, "RAID repair is at 40 percent."

Sumomo, who had been silent up to this point, leapt up and began to dance around. She chanted, "Kotoko's alright! Kotoko's alright! She's A-ok! Good to go!"

"I will be if you don't jostle my hard drives," Kotoko corrected, a hint of what sounded like irritation in her voice.

Sumomo froze, balancing on the toes of one foot. She teetered, fell forward, then rolled, coming up into a final pose with her hands raised. After a moment, she turned to Kotoko. "What, no applause?"

Kotoko rolled her eyes. "I don't have physical control of my body right now." To her master, she said, "I'm a little surprised to see you, actually."

"I couldn't just let you stay bricked, could I?" He returned his attention to the monitor. After a moment, he said, "Hey, could you open your temperature monitor? I want to make sure your new CPUs don't run too hot."

After a moment, she said, "Aknowledged."

Studying the display, Kojima frowned. "63 degrees celsius," he muttered. "And soon after startup too."

"It's well below what it was," Kotoko commented, "I was running near 90 the last time I checked."

"Well your hardware hasn't been checked in three years," Kojima pointed out, "It's amazing this didn't happen sooner."

"It certainly happened at an inopportune time," she commented.

"I'm sorry!" Hideki cut in, "If I'd known the warning signs of what was happening, this wouldn't have happened."

Kojima laughed. "Motosuwa has a crazy theory that you crashed yourself because you missed me or something."

Kotoko's eyes flicked up to the ceiling. "He's right, in a way."

His smile froze on his face. "What? How? Why?"

"I wouldn't say I was _trying_ to crash," She explained, "but it was a possibility I evaluated. If I was just going to slowly become obsolete, what was the point? Better to crash all at once than to keep going until I was no use to anyone."

"That's horrible!" Hideki burst out, "Why would you even consider something like that? Do you know how many people would miss you?"

"I discarded it as a possibility almost immediately," she reassured him, "For the time being I was useful again, helping with your investigation. In any case, my complete obsolescence was years into the future, and there was always the possibility that circumstances would change."

"You're more than just useful to us," Hideki replied, "You're a good friend, and we don't want to lose you."

"I would miss you too," Chi agreed.

"Our investigation would not have been the same without you," Minoru offered.

"I built you with my own two hands," Kojima added, "Of course I don't want to see you crash."

Kotoko did not reply, simply looked up the ceiling as her blush simulators turned her face bright red. "RAID repair is at 65 percent," She announced.

Minoru cleared his throat. "Well, that settles that quite well." He glanced toward the door. "I wonder what's keeping Yuzuki. She said she would only be an hour or so."

Hideki stood, Chi still clinging to his collar. "I'll go check on her, if you want."

"No need to trouble yourself," the young man replied, "I can do it."

"I don't mind." Really, Hideki had reasons for wanting to find Yuzuki and talk to her alone. He had not forgotten the conversation he had overheard. There was something Yuzuki was keeping from Minoru, something she was too afraid to discuss with him. Perhaps she would be willing to talk to him.

The hallway was deserted as Hideki walked toward the line of bedrooms. Minoru's maid persocoms seemed to have already completed their daily routines and gone into sleep mode. For the first time, Hideki realized how completely empty the house seemed. Minoru had Yuzuki and the four other persocoms for companionship, true, but even that did not seem like enough. The house was enormous, designed for either far more residents or a much larger staff. He understood now why Minoru enjoyed the building sessions so much: it was a brief relief from how large, silent, and empty it was there.

As he reached the small room which Yuzuki used, there was still no sign of the blue-haired persocom. She had been uncharacteristically careless, leaving the door to her room open.

Hideki glanced inside. "Yuzuki, are you here?"

He received no response. Cautiously, fully aware that he was intruding, he crept inside and looked around. The room was extremely tidy, as well kept as anywhere in the house. Its general character was more English gentry than Japanese; canopy bed, lace trim and curtains, small adornments on everything from the walls to the furniture. There was a wooden nightstand beside the bed, with a rather large stack of books, magazines and journals atop it. Hideki hesitated once again. Entering her room while trying to find her was one thing, but going through its contents was another. But it would probably give him a clue about what was happening with Yuzuki, and just a peek would not hurt.

He picked up the magazine on the top of the pile. It was a medical journal, the front read _International Journal of Fertility and Sterility_ in large Romanji letters. Hideki raised an eyebrow. Why would she have this? He scanned the front for any clues. The cover story of this issue was emblazoned along the bottom: "A boon for birthrates? Growing Zygotes in artificial wombs." Something clicked for him at that moment. Yuzuki's conversation with the woman, on the day that he had been out with Chi and overheard them. She had asked the woman about some technology, something which was still being developed. Could this possibly be it?

The next on the pile was a slim book titled _The Road to Parenthood_. The entire stack was the same: _Raising children in a technological society_ , _Persocoms in primary education_ , _Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development_ , _The Moral Judgment of the Child_ , book after book after book about raising children. Was this what she had become fascinated about? Why?

He heard the door creak fully open, then Yuzuki's voice. "Oh! Mister Motosuwa!"

Hideki looked up. The blue-haired persocom was cradling a doll, supporting its head with her hand the same way she had with Kotoko.

He began to stammer. "Oh, ah, you see, we hadn't heard from you in a while, so I came to check on you, and you left the door open."

She frowned. "How odd, I seem to have lost track of time."

A full two seconds passed between them, during which neither seemed to know what to say. Both of them had been caught in an embarrassing situation: Hideki intruding and Yuzuki holding what was blatantly a baby doll.

Hideki had been through too many shocks already that evening, and could not take one more. He felt like he was watching himself from outside as he motioned to the edge of Yuzuki's bed. "Would you like to take a seat?"

Tenderly setting down the doll on the pillow, she perched on the edge of the mattress, while Hideki sat down beside her. He still had the strange sense as if his life were something he was observing from outside, not living.

Yuzuki sighed. "I supposed it was inevitable I would be discovered. There wasn't any hope of keeping it a secret forever."

"So, what's all of this about?" he asked.

"It's about my master," she replied. "About his future, and what part I can play in it."

The entire situation still felt incredibly surreal. Hideki spoke without feeling like he had any control over it. "What do you mean?"

"My role has already changed from what it used to be," she explained. "I used to be a surrogate for his sister, then his guardian and companion, and now his lover. I can satisfy his urges—we're built with the correct anatomy for it—Which is fine for now. For now."

"But you're modeled after his sister!" it seemed like such a stupid thing to say, but it was the only thing he could think.

"I'm not his sister," Yuzuki pointed out. "That isn't how he thinks of me, not when he holds me in his arms. I'm Yuzuki to him, not Kaede. I'm designed to look like a girl his age." she managed a brief smile. "And not an entirely unattractive one either."

Hideki blushed as he tried to force down the images which came unbidden into his mind. Thinking of Minoru and Yuzuki, together like that—no, he had to snap out of it.

She continued. "I want to remain by his side, now and always. But he changes, and so does my role."

He nodded. "You love him, don't you?"

If Hideki had not known it was physically impossible, he could have sworn Yuzuki was about to cry. "He can have my body and heart whenever he wants, _how_ ever he wants, but there's one wish I can never give him. He's a young man now, but he won't always be. What if one day he wants children of his own? I may look like a human, but I'm still just a machine." She placed her hands on her lower abdomen. "Even if I could, what kind of mother would a persocom make?"

"Who says you wouldn't make a good one?" Hideki countered. "I mean, We've had persocoms that were children and spouses, why not a mother?" He shrugged. "Besides, some people don't want kids, and not everyone who does can have them. He could adopt, you could have a surrogate mother. There are other options."

"He's right," said a voice from the doorway.

Both Hideki and Yuzuki turned to see who it was. The others stood there, with Minoru at the front of the group. Kojima at the back, carrying Kotoko in one arm, seemed mostly amused, while Chi simply watched from the side.

Minoru continued, "You'd been in here so long, we figured we'd come and see what was delaying you."

Yuzuki jumped up. "M-master Minoru! I'm sorry for losing track of time. I can explain—"

Minoru silenced her with a raised hand. "No need. I heard everything. So this is the reason you've been acting so strange lately."

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, "I've failed you, and couldn't even tell you what I had tried."

"I'll admit I wish you had let me know what was on your mind; it would have saved me a lot of worry." He placed a hand on her shoulder, a strange expression on his face. "So, all of the secrecy was because you were trying to find a way to have children?"

She nodded. "I spoke to a woman on a fertility forum. She's a doctor who deals mostly with prospective parents who are having difficulty. According to her, there doesn't seem to be a way to build that ability into me. Until the technology develops, I will never be able to play that role for you."

The young man's expression was curious. "Yuzuki...Is it possible that _you_ _want_ to be a mother?"

"That would be impossible," she replied. "I only act according to the programming you gave to me. My only desire is to see you happy."

He raised an eyebrow. "I never said anything about wanting kids. I don't remember programming that desire into you, and it certainly didn't come from any of my sister's data."

After a moment, Yuzuki's posture straightened and her shoulders stiffened. "I'm sorry master Minoru. I've misinterpreted your wishes and caused you trouble. I will discontinue this part of my program."

"No!" Minoru's outburst made all of them jump. The young man began to pace back and forth. "You don't understand—no, there no way you _could_. I programmed you to look after me, to act like my sister, and to learn; it's the only framework I gave you. You probably can't even imagine wanting something that wasn't fulfilling my wishes in some way. But I never said anything about wanting children; I didn't program that into you. That's something entirely your own."

"My…own desire?" She sounded doubtful.

He nodded. "That's right. Yours. From who you are and no one else."

"One that you don't share?" Her expression was anxious, almost as if she were asking for some sort of approval.

"I'm certainly not _averse_ to the idea," Minoru mused, "Perhaps, someday, it would be nice to have a child. But not yet. Right now I don't even want to think about something like that. One day maybe."

Yuzuki nodded. "Of course! Thank you, master!"

Minoru gave her a warm smile. "After all these years, after all of _this_ , you still call me 'master?'"

Yuzuki returned his smile. "Always."

They returned to the lounge as a group in three pairs; Minoru and Yuzuki with their arms around one another's waists, Hideki and Chi holding hands, and Kojima carrying Kotoko in his arms. Minoru called for one of the maids to bring them tea, then settled in on the couch. After another hour, Kojima excused himself, saying he was exhausted. The four persocoms left soon avter, retreating to Yuzuki's room and leaving Hideki and Minoru alone in the lounge.

Well, that certainly answers one of our mysteries.," Hideki began.

"That it does," Minoru agreed. "Thank you for finding out."

Hideki laughed. "After tonight, I think I need a break from investigating."

The younger man sighed. "Agreed. The last month has been pretty taxing on all of us." He took a long drink from a now tepid cup of tea. "At least I can rest easy knowing why Yuzuki has been acting so strangely. Here I was thinking it was some sort of glitch or virus or any number of other things. I would never have thought it was something like _that_."

He remembered something; an offhand comment Yuzuki had made several weeks ago. "Yuzuki told me once that you'd made some additions to her programming," he began, trying to sound as casual as possible. "What, exactly, did you do?"

Minoru fidgeted. "Yuzuki started helping me, um, I guess relieve tension would be the best way to put it. It was fine, but felt too one-sided. So I programmed her to have those sort of urges, and to have physical responses which resembled those of a human. Basically, I gave her the capacity to enjoy what she was already doing anyway."

He frowned. "Seems like it had some effects you didn't expect."

The younger man nodded in agreement.

It made sense now, once he had all of the pieces of the puzzle. Her naturally caring and nurturing personality, the fact that Minoru was growing up and would one day be an adult, her changing role from guardian to companion, and now this final element. It was almost obvious, now that he knew the answer.

Hideki wondered if it would be that way with their job for their investigation. They still had a mystery to solve, the same one they had been trying to unravel for weeks. They knew exactly _how_ it had happened, and had a fairly good theory for where she ended up, but as to _why_ , they still knew almost nothing. They were missing that one final piece of the puzzle, the one that would give a logical reason why Lola had done what she had.


	28. Track 28: Unfragment

Track 28: Unfragment

It almost felt like they had never left Minoru's house. The same group was gathered in the young man's study once again. It was just after eight, and the morning sun streaming in through the windows. If Hideki did not have the memory of walking home and flopping down on his futon, he would have believed they had just worked through the night. Only the addition of Shinbo marked it as a different occasion.

Hideki had managed to calm down somewhat from his ordeal of the previous evening. It would be a long time until he forgot the persocom dump, and his discussions with Lofiy and Yuzuki were burned into his memory, but with a little distance, he could begin to make sense of it. The fact that their meeting had a definite purpose certainly helped.

The gurney which held Freya, which had been wheeled aside and covered with a sheet the previous evening, was once again in the center of the room. She was almost unrecognizable from the corpselike frame she had been in Undertaker's basement. Someone, possibly Minoru or Yuzuki, had scrubbed her covering with a strong cleaning fluid and brushed her long blonde hair, leaving her looking practically new.

Chi stared down at the gurney, as unmoving as her twin. Her expression was unreadable. Hideki felt a twinge of worry once more. How would this affect her? Would she see Freya as being alive or dead in this state?

She did not look up. "It's her. The other me that I used to see."

Hideki hugged her from behind. "That's right. This is your older sister, Chi."

She turned in his arms to give him a curious look. "Older sister?"

"That's right," he replied. "She was made first, then you were made to be exactly like her. She crashed some time before I found you and couldn't get better. We're trying to make her work again."

Kojima finished off a can of monster energy drink, then immediately opened another. "That's the idea at least. Her hardware's almost completely repaired, thanks to some of the stuff we found yesterday, but we've hit a roadblock when it comes to that. We need some of your data."

She tilted her head to the side. "My data?"

"That's right," he replied, "It's not just your appearances that are identical. Your systems are the same as well, and so is a good portion of your base-level data."

"We need your encryption keys specifically," Kotoko added. "She can't work without them, and it would maybe take years to crack the protection."

"If you don't want to help, we understand," Minoru said. "In theory it shouldn't pose any risk to you, but it would involve connecting you to her."

She looked down to her deactivated sister once again. For a long moment, she said nothing. Hideki reached out to grip her hand reassuringly. He had agreed that Chi would share in everything Hideki did, and that included this. Whatever she decided, he had to stand beside her decision.

Finally, she replied, "Chi wants to help her!"

"Are you sure?" Hideki asked.

Chi gave a very definite nod. "She helped me with my feelings for you, so I want to do what I can for her."

At that point, the door to the lounge opened, and Yuzuki entered with a large silver tray. "Morning tea and biscuits are ready!" she announced.

"Excellent!" Minoru replied, "Why don't you take a seat and join us?"

Hideki gawked as he saw her. The blue-haired persocom was positively radiant, smiling at each of them in turn as she poured their cup and served them cookies. Her outfit seemed to reflect her mood: brighter blues than normal and whites which glowed in the sun. Its cut was neither too reserved nor too immodest, and had tiers of ruffles which gave it a cute look.

Hideki took a sip from the cup of hot liquid. Was it his imagination, or did Yuzuki's tea taste even better than normal? The cookies were a welcome addition too, beautifully decorated and clearly freshly baked.

Chi sat down beside him, watching patiently with a determined expression.

"So you knew the entire time that Yuzuki wanted to have children?" he asked her.

Chi nodded. "She told me when she measured me for the yukata. She said it was something really important, and that I shouldn't tell anyone."

Yuzuki had taken a seat next to her master. "It was nice to have a confidante. She didn't understand at first, but I explained."

Minoru frowned. "What worries me is, you told Chi but couldn't discuss it with me."

"Everyone gets weird about what they tell the people they love," Shinbo interjected. "It suddenly becomes a much bigger deal."

"Oh gee, know that from personal experience do you," Kojima cut in, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shinbo rounded on him. "You watch what you say."

Kojima just laughed, but he did not press any farther.

"I'm sorry master," Yuzuki replied to Minoru's earlier comment. "I wanted to, but I just couldn't bring myself to mention it. Not when I wasn't sure I would even be able to fill that role for you."

"It certainly explains why you suddenly started acting all _domestic_." Minoru agreed. "Knitting, sewing, baking, far more than just normal housework."

"All important skills for managing a home," she explained, "especially one with children. I hope you don't mind, I downloaded a complete home economics program."

Minoru shrugged, then took a bite from one of his cookies. "You'll have to introduce me to this fertility doctor you've spoken to. Perhaps by the time I'm ready for us to consider it, the technology will be advanced enough to be a viable option."

"So how do I help my sister?" Chi asked. Now she had made her decision, there did not seem to be anything which could distract her from it.

Shinbo explained, "we plug you into her and have you try and boot up her system. From there, we have to set her up to use your keys."

Kojima yawned, then took another drink from his can of monster. "We'll need a persocom to monitor the data traffic, one that can identify the keys and record them. There'll be some risk to them, we don't know if it's only accessing your system directly that crashes other 'coms, or if acting as a pass-through will do it as well."

"I can do that," Kotoko offered.

Kojima groaned. "I _just_ fixed you!"

"And you backed up all of my data yesterday," she countered. "Of the persocoms we have access to, I don't believe Yuzuki has been backed up recently, and Mr. Kokubunji's maids lack the necessary software. That just leaves Sumomo and myself. And frankly, I'd barely trust Sumomo to compile a Python program, let alone monitor data traffic. Losing at most a day's worth of data is an acceptable loss for obtaining her keys."

Kojima slammed his can of Monster down on the table. "Damnit Kotoko, I don't _want_ to see you crash again!"

His outburst made all of them jump, Kotoko not the least of all. For a full second, a look of shock registered on her face, her eyes going wide and mouth hanging open ever so slightly. When she recovered her normal expression, her face had turned a bright red.

"Y-your emotions have nothing to do with this," she replied, her voice quavering ever so slightly. "I've calculated the risks and I'm our best option available. We can either use me, or call off today and wait until we have another persocom who can do what I can."

The two locked gazes for a moment. Finally, Kojima sighed. "I can't argue with the numbers." Reluctantly, Kojima withdrew a connection cable from either side of Kotoko's head, plugging one into Freya, then handing the other to Hideki. As Hideki opened Chi's ear port and inserted the connector, Kojima attached a keyboard and monitor to Freya.

"Alright," Kojima said to Chi, "Now I want you to try and access her hard drive."

Chi nodded. "I don't think I know how to do that. Chi will do her best, though!"

Her eyes unfocused for only a moment before returning to normal. They heard the whir of a fan activate from somewhere within Freya's torso, then a succession of beeps.

"Good so far," Shinbo commented, "You should be in her BIOS right now."

Kojima nodded. "Yeah, give me a sec." A few keystrokes later, he nodded.

"Starting monitoring program." Kotoko announced. After a moment her eyes went wide, her body shaking and seizing up.

Kojima reached over to unplug her cables, knocking over his empty cans of monster. "Kotoko!"

She regained her composure. "I-I'm alright," she replied. "Resuming data monitor."

Her master took a long, deep breath, let it out slowly. "I want you to disconnect the instant you start getting any resistance. I'm serious, the barest hint that you might crash, I want you out."

Kotoko folded her arms. "I'll be alright," she grumbled.

Hideki turned to Kojima. "Will it be okay if I talk to them? Do they need to concentrate?"

Kojima began tapping keys, his eyes fixed intently on the monitor. He did not look up. "They should have plenty of RAM to spare for that, in theory. Don't overdo it, though."

Hideki turned to Chi. "I've been meaning to ask, but how did your conversation go with Calandra?"

"She's very nice," Chi replied, "and she seemed interested in me."

Hideki fought down a sudden twinge of worry. People taking an interest of Chi had not ended well in the past. Calandra seemed to be nice, and hopefully nothing would come of it, but he never knew.

"Her master built her to be a singer," she continued, "like the Vocaloids but not made by Yanaha. She still lives with her original master. She doesn't really sing anymore, though."

"What about the club?" He asked. "Did she say anything about working there? What it's like?"

"She likes working there," she said. "She says the other persocoms are good workers and some of the people who go there are nice."

"Speaking of the club," Kotoko cut in, "I discovered something about the its internal network just before my crash. The memory file was partially corrupted, but I was able to recover most of it."

That caught all of their attentions. Even Kojima's keystrokes faltered for a moment. He tried to sound casual as he said, "Oh really? What did you find? Can you share it?"

She nodded. "The club's LAN is fascinating. I never really paid attention for it before, there was never a reason to. A couple of things leapt out. First is volume. The patrons and expected services represent perhaps ten percent of the total wireless traffic, if that. At least ninety percent is devoted to some sort of internal service or processing. Even if the club is hosting an accounting or web service, that wouldn't account for more than half of what they have."

"That's rather sinister," Hideki commented.

"Doesn't really surprise me all that much, honestly," Kojima spoke up. "Club Mercer's a weird place. A _really_ weird one sometimes. For all we know, they could be hacking the Ministry of Defense. Or just as easily be working for them, there's no way to tell."

"There's more," the miniature persocom continued. "By my estimation, whatever persocom is running the network outstrips my processing power by several orders of magnitude. I've never connected to anything like it."

"What could do that?" Hideki asked.

She shrugged. "two or three brand new mainframes, a moderate-sized server cluster, or perhaps a supercomputer from five or six years ago."

Minoru frowned, then took a sip of his tea. "So what does that mean?"

"What it means is that mr. Motosuwa's gut feeling was right after all," Kotoko replied. "There's something going on in that club that has nothing to do with drinks and music." She held up her hand. "I have the last of the keys."

Both Hideki and Kojima let out sighs of relief as they unplugged Chi and Kotoko from Freya. Their fears seemed silly now, of course Freya would never crash her sister, and Kotoko was not interacting with either directly. They were both fine.

Their rebuild of Freya had gone smoothly, almost too much so. Ever since Dr. Suzuhara had begun helping them, everything had fallen into place. Even this latest session, by far the most risky thing they had attempted, had gone flawlessly. It was impossible, of course, but it was almost like Freya knew what they were trying to do. Like she knew they were trying to help her and bring her back to life.

As the cables retracted into Kotoko's head, Kojima grinned. "We did it!"

"It's been a productive morning," Minoru commented. With any luck, we can finish this project by the end of the week."

"We can flash the keys to a ROM today," Kojima agreed, "After that, it's all a question of software: her OS, learning program and any additional program data. Maybe another session or two worth of work."

Shinbo slumped back against the couch. "We did it. this is actually happening. We _fixed_ her!"

"More than that," Minoru added, "Now that we know how her system works, we can back up Chi's data."

Hideki had almost forgotten. That had been their original intention; not repair Freya, that had seemed impossible at the time, but to learn all they could about Chi's system. That way they could back up her data, and repair her. Freya helping her younger sister from beyond the grave. As events had worked out, it had been the other way around: Chi helping Freya return to life.

He glanced over to Chi. All these years he had been worried something would happen to her, that Chi would become damaged and he could not fix her. But with what they knew now, they could keep her safe and running perfectly. Even if she crashed, if her CPU or RAM went bad, or if her hard drive failed like had happened to Kotoko and Hiro's wife, he would not have to lose her. He thought back to what Flower had said the previous night in the club, about her backups making it so she could not die. Chi could be like that.

Chi tilted her head. "Hideki?"

Without another word, he hugged her.


	29. Track 29: Cellphone Paranoia Girl LOL

Track 29: Cellphone Paranoia Girl LOL

For the first time in weeks, Hideki was actually paying attention to his coursework. All of his textbooks sat in two stacks, a short one of finished subjects and a crushingly tall one of reading he still needed to do. He was hardly taking an overwhelming number of courses; over the minimum number of hours for full-time enrollment but well under the maximum. But with so many other things on his mind lately, he had fallen behind in everything. Physics alone had taken an entire three hours, and he still felt like he barely understood what he had read.

It was early evening, perhaps 5:30. He was not entirely sure, and he did not want to disturb Sumomo or Kotoko just to find out. The two miniature persocoms were seated atop the TV once again, both in sleep mode. Chi would be getting off of work soon, and was probably already on her way back.

Slumping back against the floor, Hideki let out a long sigh. He was getting nowhere with macroeconomics. The only thing still keeping him going was that Twentieth century Japanese literature still lay ahead of him as well. He was saving that as a treat for the last. In the meantime, however, he needed a temporary distraction, one that he could pick up for just a few minutes and not become too drawn in to.

He glanced around the room, looking for anything suitable. He still had a stack of science fiction novels and DVDs beside the TV, but he did not want to become that involved in something so he continued searching. His porn sat to the other side, the Maidloid series in pride of place on top of them. No, this was not the time for that sort of distraction. All of Chi's Vocaloid memorabilia, her magazines and albums, sat in a tidy stack to one side. That sounded appealing; reading a short article or two, then back to work.

Hideki picked up the magazine at the top of the pile. It was one of the Vocaloid weekly publications, published only a few days ago. He was slightly surprised that news companies still released printed magazines at all; with social media and online news sites established for them, physical magazines seemed rather antiquated. He supposed it was harder to distribute posters that way; almost every one of Chi's Vocaloid magazines seemed to have at least three of them folded up in their centers.

The front cover depicted Miku, looking surprised and blushing ever so slightly. The tagline below the picture read "does Miku have a secret crush? Signs point to yes! P.23" That sounded promising. Hideki flipped through the colorful pages, finally finding the indicated article. Stretching across the top of a two-page spread was a large title: "Miku's Hidden Feelings Revealed."

The article began with a brief intro. "During a recent interview, Hatsune Miku let slip a few comments which have led many to speculate that the popular Vocaloid may have developed feelings for some unknown person. Peppered throughout her replies were a few suggestive comments which are certainly food for thought.

"On the subject of beauty tips, she confided, 'You'll always look better if you _feel_ better. if you're happy, and you spend time around people that make you happy, your inner beauty will shine through and people around you will notice.' "Miku later blushed as the interviewer turned to the subject of dating. When asked what she wanted to see in a potential date, she had this to say: 'You need to look for someone that likes you for who you are, someone that would like you even if you're not rich, famous, or popular.' Later on she commented, 'Sometimes you'll feel like you're being really obvious with your feelings, but they don't even seem to realize it.'

"These comments are the most recent addition to a long list of evidence that Miku is in love. Many have noticed in recent weeks that she seems exceptionally cheerful, even more than normal. Informants from within Yanaha Cybernetics suggest she's been eagerly spending time with a certain someone, to the point of it disrupting her schedule."

The article continued in much the same way for another few paragraphs, then began listing possible identities for Miku's crush. Hideki found himself more fascinated by the article than he had expected. It was like a window into someone else's life, a little glimpse of how someone else lived their life. Even though he now knew more about Miku's life than almost any other person, it was still tantalizing. He found himself wondering who it was she had a crush on.

There was a knock at the door. That was probably Chi, with Hiro or Yumi. The two of them had agreed to walk with her back to the apartment after work.

"The door's unlocked!" he called. He did not look up as the hinges of the door creaked.

"Good evening, Mr. Motosuwa," said the voice of Ms. Hibiya.

Hideki jumped at her unexpected arrival, banging his knees painfully against the table as he looked up. His landlady stood in the doorway. Scrambling out from under it, he stood up. "Ms. Hibiya! I'm sorry, I was expecting Chi."

"It's quite alright," she replied. "I hope I'm not intruding."

Hideki shook his head. "No, it's alright, I'm just taking a break from studying."

"That's good." She seemed preoccupied, not her usual calm and cheerful self. "Do you mind if I take a seat?"

He gestured for her to sit down opposite him at the small table, then resumed his place. "I hope you had fun at Yumi's housewarming party."

"It reminded me of office parties we used to have," she replied. "Actually, there's something we discussed there I would like to talk to you about."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "go on."

"What you said really stuck with me," she explained. "About me being like a mother to Chi, not just because she was Freya."

He laughed. "Well, you've helped me with her so often, it's almost like you're her mom."

She gave a slight smile. "After you said that, do you remember what I asked you?

It took Hideki a few seconds to remember what she was referring to. That evening was still a blur to him, with only a few clear fragments. Some images were burned into his mind: Yumi sitting next to him in only a tank top and panties, Chi steadying herself against the door with a Slod sticking out of her ear port, Ms. Hibiya blushing and drunk as she giggled at a joke he could barely recall. He strained to remember what she had said.

Finally, it came back to him. "Where I saw myself in three years?"

"That's right," she replied, "I want to ask you, would you consider staying on after college?"

He shrugged. "Sure, as long as I can continue to afford to pay rent, and I can find a job in the area."

"Rent isn't the problem," she replied. "Actually, it might not be necessary at all." She fidgeted, clearly trying to find the courage to say whatever it was she wanted to. "I…I want you to stay on as my son-in-law."

For a moment, Hideki did not know how to respond to that. He was so taken aback by so many parts of that statement, his brain simply refused to process it.

"You want me to…What?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while now, actually," she explained, "I like having you and Chi here, being able to see the two of you together. You're a better soulmate for Chi than Icchan or I could have ever hoped she would find." She looked around the apartment. "I want to remodel this place, remove the locks and kitchenettes from many of the rooms, and put in one or two larger, more centralized bathrooms."

His mind was working at half speed. "You're talking about turning the building into a house? Not an apartment complex anymore?"

She nodded. "Besides my residence, the entire building is simply a collection of studio apartments. that's fine for a lonely widow or a young man attending college, but rather cramped for a family of any size, or even just a young couple."

"So me and Chi?" he concluded

"Of course! The two of you will need a proper place to live eventually." A hint of concern passed across her face. "You do have feelings for her, right?"

"I do!" he exclaimed. He was not going to deny it any longer, not to himself, his parents, or the world. "Sorry, It's just I'd never thought of the two of us, well _married_."

"I hope it isn't an imposition on you," she added. "I suppose I shouldn't assume that you plan on marrying, especially to a persocom."

"No, it's alright!" Hideki replied. "I'm not against the idea—though I don't know exactly if I could explain it to my parents—I hadn't thought about it before."

Her smile was radiant. "I'm glad! Please, Mr. Motosuwa, let me turn this building into a home for the two of you!"

"Well," he replied, "I'll certainly think about it."

The landlady smiled. "Thank you! I suppose that's all I can ask."

They heard the creek of the front door opening. That had to be Chi this time.

Ms. Hibiya stood. "I should get going. Thank you for at least considering my offer."

He smiled. "No trouble at all! And thank you. For everything."

Hideki slumped back against the desk as the door closed behind the landlady, feeling more than a little stunned. The idea was incredibly _traditional,_ having the mother-in-law moving in with a new couple. Then again, Ms. Hibiya was a very traditional person in many ways. The idea was still too new for him to process. He loved Chi more dearly than anyone. But was he ready to think about that step? Marrying Chi the way Hiro had married his persocom wife? And what about Freya? Ms. Hibiya still did not know about her restoration. He was more convinced than ever that she should be the one to have her once they were done. But what would it be like for all of them to live together under the same roof?

His thoughts were interrupted at the door to his room opened. He looked up to see Chi rushing over to him. "Hideki! I'm home!"

"Sorry we're a bit late," Hiro added from the door, "It took a while to close the shop today."

"Want to stick around for a bit?" Hideki offered, "I don't have much to offer you, but I could get you some tea."

"Thanks," Hiro replied, "but I'd better head home. I have a lot to think about."

Hideki felt a twinge of concern. "What's wrong?"

Hiro grimaced. "I'm worried about Yumi. She's been spending more and more time with her new persocom lately."

"I suppose that's natural," Hideki mused, "She just got her, so she wants to program more songs for her to sing."

"It's more than that," the baker replied. "She won't leave the house much except for work. Whenever I recommend we do something, she tries to get me to go with Saki instead."

Hideki suddenly remembered something else from the party, a comment Yumi had made while they were sitting on the back step. The wording was difficult to remember, but it had something to do with Saki being everything she wanted to be.

"Maybe she's doing it because she thinks Saki as a better version of herself. She loves you so much that she wants you to be with a perfect version of her."

Hiro frowned. "That's quite a thought. What makes you say that?"

Hideki shrugged. "Some comments she made at the party. Probably nothing, we were all drunk."

"It's certainly something to think about," the baker replied. "I'd better get going."

"Thanks for walking Chi home," Hideki said.

Hiro smiled. "Have a good night you two."

As the door swung closed, Hideki turned back to his studies. Chi shifted over to sit next to him. Hideki opened his textbook and found where he had been before Ms. Hibiya had knocked on his door.

"How was your day?" he asked. "Good?"

Chi nodded. "We prepared a lot of cakes and cookies that one person ordered specially."

"A catering job?" he asked. "Sounds like the bakery is doing well."

"That's what manager says," she replied. She sighed, and fell silent.

As Hideki continued reading, he realized Chi was fidgeting, and shooting glances over to him. Every time he would glance up at her, she would look down, never meeting his gaze. It became so distracting that soon Hideki could not concentrate.

"Something on your mind?" he asked.

Chi shifted closer. "Ms. Hibiya explained everything to me. About your magazines."

"She did tell you then?," he replied.

"Chi understands now. Hideki has those sort of feelings." She reached over to grab one of his magazines from beside the TV. Glancing through it, she sighed. "Do you think that you and I could ever do that?"

Hideki blushed. "Well, uh, that's where your power switch is, Chi. If that gets pressed, all your memories would be gone."

She looked sad. "I know. I can't do that with you, like Yuzuki can't have a baby."

He patted her head. "I don't mind. I'd rather have you stay with me as you are."

"But that's what you do with someone you love, right?" she insisted. She seemed so earnest it was almost painful.

"Well yeah," he replied, "Usually anyway."

At that exact moment, there was another knock at the door. It was a relief, but this time Hideki was completely at a loss as to who it could be. Rising from his seat, he crossed to the door and opened it. He was met by a familiar teal-haired figure.

She beamed. "Hideki! The address mother gave me was right after all!"

"Miku!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

The persocom popstar had her hands hidden behind her back. "It's been a long time since I saw you, so I figured I'd stop by."

Chi peeked out from behind Hideki's shoulder. "Who's at the door?' She noticed the Vocaloid standing in front of them. "Is that Hatsune Miku?"

Miku was immediately suspicious. "That's right. Who are you?"

"Chi is Chi!" she replied cheerfully.

"Right," Miku said, "What are you doing here?"

Hideki felt Chi grip his arm. "Chi is Hideki's person just for him. Hideki found me, and now I live here."

The range of emotions that played over Miku's face was terrible to see, running from shock to horror to grief. For several seconds, she seemed too stunned to say anything.

When the teal-haired vocaloid finally found her voice again, she blurted out, "I'm sorry!" Then she turned and ran off down the hall.

Hideki rushed out into the hallway after her. "Miku?"

The front door of the building slammed closed, the sound echoing through the building.


	30. Track 30: Crystalline

Track 30: Crystalline

Hideki rushed into the lobby of the Yanaha Cybernetics building, Chi two paces behind him. She carried Sumomo and Kotoko in her arms, jostling the miniature persocoms as little as possible. It seemed to take an eternity for the elevator to reach the lobby, then another eternity for it to reach the lab floor. Even the beautiful view from through its glass walls was not enough to distract him.

It had already been two hours since Miku had run out of Hideki's apartment building, and Hideki still had no idea where she could have gone. He was only guessing that she would return to Yanaha. It was the only place that he had interacted with her, so if not here, then he was at a loss.

Sumomo perked up. "Ring ring ring! Phone call! Phone call!"

Whoever it was could not have called at a worse time. Then again, perhaps it was Dr. Suzuhara, and she might have some information about where Miku had gone.

"Answer!" he said.

Sumomo's eyes unfocused as she connected the call. "Hideki?" it was Yumi's voice.

"Yumi?" he replied. "I'm sorry, I'm a little busy now. What is it?"

"Did something happen to Miku?" she asked. "Her media feeds are going crazy! She's posting almost every minute, all really dark and disjointed stuff. There's already a whole board trying to figure out what's going on. It sounds like someone betrayed her."

In a flash, Hideki understood. It all made sense now. Miku's strange behavior, her pulling him down on top of her, and then the magazine article. _He_ was the person she had a crush on, the one she was trying to spend time with and grow close to. All of the signs were right there in front of him, and he had not seen it, had not even suspected it. He felt like a complete idiot.

That just made him even more concerned. The persocoms did not have the best track record with unrequited feelings. First Freya, then Kotoko, it seemed that crashing from emotional overload was normal for them. If he could not find her, if she could not move past it, would that happen to Miku as well?

"I'm sorry," he finally replied, "I really can't say anything right now. I'll call you back. Bye!"

"Wait a minu—" Yumi was cut off as the call ended.

He rushed out of the elevator even before the doors had slid all the way open. He nearly dropped his ID card as he withdrew it, but caught it at the last moment and tapped it against the card reader. Dr. Suzuhara was waiting for them just on the other side of the doors.

Before she could say anything, he asked, "Where's Miku?"

"I think you're the last person she wants to see right now," the doctor replied.

Hideki did not have time for this. "I have to. Yumi says she's been posting constantly since she ran away from my apartment."

"She's locked herself in the cleaning room, and turned the heat up all the way. She won't talk to or let anyone in, not even me."

"She'll talk to _me_ ," he insisted, "I know her, and it's my fault this happened anyway."

The doctor grimaced. "Mr. Motosuwa, she's a sixteen-year-old girl, and you just broke her heart."

Hideki nodded. "I know. That's exactly why I _need_ to see her. We need to help her, get her to move past it if possible." He looked the doctor straight in the eyes. "We both know what happened to Freya."

After a long moment, the doctor relented. "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you, and don't expect her to be happy to see you."

Someone called to him from down one of the connecting halls. "Mr. Motosuwa!"

Hideki turned to see a large group crowded into the corridor. At its head was Gumi, looking more concerned than he had ever seen her.

"You're here to talk to Miku and calm her down?" she asked.

He nodded. "That's the idea."

"Please!" she pleaded. "If there's anything you can do, help her!"

He looked through the crowd. Some of their faces were familiar to him: Flower, Luka, Kaito, Gackupo. Many of them, however, he had never met. "All of you are worried about her?"

"We're all Vocaloids," Gumi pointed out, "Whatever happens, we're basically family."

"If one of us is sad, we're here to support them," Gackupo agreed. "If one of us is in trouble, all of us are going to help."

"We all owe her a lot," Kaito added, "Many of us wouldn't even exist if it weren't for her, and the rest would be barely operational, overworked machines with no personalities of our own."

Hideki could not help but be touched. All of them were worried about their fellow vocaloid. Beside him Dr. Suzuhara coughed, though to him it sounded more like a sob.

He nodded. "I'll try." He turned back to Chi. "Sorry you have to go through all of this."

"I don't know if I really understand," she admitted. "But we made Miku sad somehow. We need to help her."

Hideki smiled. It was so like Chi to say that. Even if she did not understand what the person needed, even if they were after Hideki—he heasitated to call Miku her rival, since he had not even realized what she had wanted—Chi was ready to help with her ever-cheerful attitude. How she managed to stay so kind and innocent, he did not know.

The doctor led Hideki down a corridor he had never been through. After a few turns, Hideki found himself in front of a door with a security lock marked "Vocaloid Cosmetic Cleaning Room." The security lock was blinking red. Hideki tapped his ID against it, but was only greeted with a low beep.

He pounded on the door. "Miku?" there was no answer. "It's Hideki." Still no response. He glanced over to Dr. Suzuhara.

The doctor shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Don't look at me."

He pounded on the door again. "Miku I know you're in there." He sighed. "Look, could you at least let me in so we could talk? You ran off before I could even say anything." Miku was still silent. Hideki hoped she had not crashed while locked in the room. If she had, there was little they could do other than force the door open. "I'm not going away until you let me in. Come on, at least let me talk to you. We're friends, aren't we?"

A few moments later the lock clicked and the door slid open. His nostrils were assailed by a cocktail of harsh chemical smells: rubbing alcohol, acetone, mineral oil, and more. Plugging his nose, Hideki stepped inside.

The room resembled a public bath crossed with a beauty salon. Its floor and walls were stark white tile. A line of tanning beds made up one wall, for what purpose Hideki could only guess. Gallon jugs marked "Retrobright" were stacked on shelves next to them. The center of the room was devoted to hand shower stations, a stool in front of each of them. Along the opposite wall were a collection of bathtubs, wash basins, and what appeared to be a large hot tub.

Miku was seated in one of the smaller tubs, knees drawn up to her chest. Steam rose from the water, filling the room and condensing on the cool tiles. Hideki gulped as he saw Miku's clothes scattered across the floor in front of the tub, realizing that the popstar was entirely naked.

Pulling up a stool from one of the shower stations, he sat down next to her tub. "Hey."

The Vocaloid continued staring straight ahead. If it was not for her chest was not still rising and falling in simulated breathing, and the occasional blink, he would have thought she had crashed.

"So…" Hideki was not sure how to start. He had never been good talking with girls about this sort of thing. His experience with relationships was incredibly limited; he had spent most of his time studying. Other than his time with Chi and a date he once had with Yumi, most of what he knew came from anime and manga. How was he supposed to handle this?

"I just want to say that I'm sorry." He sighed. "This is all my fault, really. I should have realized you had feelings for me. I also should have told you about Chi a long time ago." At this point, it felt like he was just monologuing. "Truth is, I was a little embarrassed by it. I didn't know how people would react when they found out about it." he fidgeted on his stool. "Chi is special. I found her on a garbage heap about three and a half years ago. At the time, I thought I was just getting a persocom, but she turned out being a lot more. I had to teach her everything, and somewhere along the line we fell in love."

Miku's shoulders quivered ever so slightly. Persocoms were unable to cry, but it seemed as close to it as she could get.

"I've really enjoyed spending time with you. You're an amazing person, fun to talk to, really anyone would be lucky to be with you." he took a deep breath and sighed. "But I can't be that person."

The persocom's chest began to heave in dry sobs.

Hideki fidgeted "I'll understand if you hate me right now, and you don't want to talk to me, but don't just lock yourself away in here. Please, everyone's worried about you. Dr. Suzuhara, Gumi, Kaito and all of the other Vocaloids. Even all of your fans know something's wrong and want to help however they can."

He did not know what else to say. The room was silent for several seconds. Hideki began think of how he could leave in the least awkward manner possible.

Finally, Miku spoke. "I thought hot baths were supposed to make you feel better," she pouted.

Hideki had to hide a smile at that. "For humans it does, I don't know about for persocoms."

"It's just making my CPU overheat," she complained, "And my peripherals are shorting out from the humidity."

He reached out tentatively to place a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, let's get you out of there."

With a sharp movement that made him flinch back, she turned to look at him. "So there's no chance then? You can't ever be with me because you're with Chi?" her eyes were so sad, so vulnerable.

Hideki had to admit, she was tempting. Charming, outgoing, ever so slightly clumsy, he understood why so many of her fans fell in love with her. In another world, a world where he had never met Chi, he could see himself with Miku. At the end of a long day of school for him, he would go pick her up from her work at Yanaha, or her most recent concert, and they would spend their evenings together. They would go to movies together, or to the park, or he would take her shopping. He would buy her things he knew he could not afford, but would do it just for how she would smile and thank him. Then at night he would walk her back before returning home himself. Or perhaps, on occasion she would stay over. He would be the one person she could go to that was not awed by her stardom, the one person that would treat her like a normal person. They could even be physically intimate, something which Chi's switch made difficult.

In another world, it might have been. But not this one.

Shaking his head seemed the most difficult thing he had ever done. "No. I love Chi, and I can't change that."

Despite her dry sobs, she smiled. "You're a good person, Hideki. Too good for me. Chi's lucky to have you."

He stood up. "Everyone's waiting for you."

She rose from the tub and stepped out, water streamed down her skin, splashing onto the floor. Her hair, soaked from her time in the bath, hung limply down her back. For the first time, Hideki could see all of her.

Without warning she rushed over to him, pressing her body against his. Hideki immediately blushed as he felt the warmth of her slender frame and the occasional shudder from her sobs. Neither of them seemed to care that Miku was still drenched from the bath. After a moment, she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting his head down as she moved in to kiss him. Her lips were impossibly soft, her eyes closed as she lost herself in their connection. Hideki head spun as his mind went blank. She had never seemed more of a real girl than she did then.

After a long moment, Miku broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. "I love you!"

He nodded. "I know. And I wish I could love you back. The way you deserve."

She smiled. In a voice that was almost a whisper, she said, "Thank you."

In the heat of the moment, Hideki had almost forgotten that Miku was naked. Almost.

"W-we shouldn't keep the others waiting out there too much longer." As he pulled away form her, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Poking out from under her discarded skirt was a small wrapped package. Doing his best to avoid touching the cloth, he extracted it. It was perhaps ten centimetres long, wrapped in bright pink paper and with a red heart sticker placed on one side.

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"

"I wanted to give you a gift," she explained. Her cheeks were flushed bright red. "I suppose it's a little awkward now."

"What's inside?"

Miku shrugged. "Go ahead, open it!"

Curious, he tore open the edge of the paper. Hideki blushed as he pulled out a familiar piece of green and white striped cotton. "Th-these are—"

"My panties," Miku replied, "one hundred percent used and official. I even signed them."

"Oh, I, umm…how nice."

"You can do whatever you want with them." Her expression suddenly became worried. "I-is it a weird gift?"

"N-no, it's fine!" Hideki stammered back.

Miku sighed. "That's good." She glanced down to her crumpled skirt. "I should probably get dressed."

He looked around. "I don't see any towels around here."

"Hmm." She glanced over to a set of empty shelves. "It looks like someone forgot to replace them." She shrugged. "Oh well. I'll just have to wait until I dry out."

The instant Miku turned away to pick up her clothes, he sniffed the panties surreptitiously. They did not smell like feminine sweat, thank god; Hideki would never have felt pure again if they had. The phrase "cucumber body wash" sprang to his mind; it was that kind of pleasant but artificial smell.

Of course, he would never sell them. The very idea of admitting to owning a robotic idol's panties mortified him to his very core. Even the thought of selling them online was horrifying, because it simply meant the confession would be in writing. But what then? Frame them? Keep them under his pillow? Maybe Chi would want to wear them. Carefully rolling them up, he placed them in his pocket.

Miku turned back to him, all of her clothes bundled into her arms. She sighed. "Let's get this over with."

The hallway was still crowded when they exited the cleaning room. It seemed like even more people had joined the mob of concerned friends. More than just Vocaloids were there now; humans and persocoms in business suits who clearly did not belong on the floor were interspersed with them.

Gumi was the first one to approach. "Are you alright?"

Miku nodded. "I'm fine now. Sort of. Hideki explained a few things."

The green-haired persocom rushed over to hug her. "I was so worried about you!"

"We all were," Gackupo added.

"We're all here for you," Kaito declared, "We're your family."

She looked like she was about to start sobbing again. "I don't know what you say."

"It's been a long day for you," Dr. Suzuhara declared. "Let me give you a diagnostic, back up and reboot, and you'll feel much better."

"Thanks mother," she replied, "A reboot sounds amazing right now."

"You should let your fans know too," Hideki pointed out. "They've been very worried about you, and aren't really sure what's going on. If you just suddenly stop posting after all that, they might get the wrong idea."

"I haven't even been reading the replies," she admitted. "I just kept posting and posting, and I never even thought about looking. Maybe I had a glitch?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think you did."

"Miss Miku?" It was Chi, taking a few tentative steps toward them.

Miku forced a smile onto her face as she noticed the blonde-haired persocom. "Hi there. You're Chi, right?"

Chi nodded. "You're Hatsune Miku. I saw your concert and I read your magazine."

The Vocaloid shrugged. "Thanks. I hope you liked it." her voice was wooden, clearly trying to sound sincere, but failing.

"You're very pretty," Chi added. "And you sing well. Whenever I hear you, I feel something in my heart. Chi wishes she was like you."

That broke through the Vocaloid's very formal show of kindness.

"But _you're_ the one Hideki likes," she replied. "really I'm the one who wishes she was like _you_."

Chi frowned, tilting her head to the side. "I don't know if I understand," she said, "But thank you."

Miku leaned in close, suddenly becoming serious. "You better take good care of Hideki. If you don't, I'm going to steal him from you."

Chi smiled. "I will."


	31. Track 31 Dancing Wildly

Track 31: Dancing Wildly

Something was about to happen, Hideki could feel it. After so many weeks of frustration and failure, after so many false starts, tonight was the night.

Hideki, Chi, Minoru and Yuzuki sat around a table at Club Mercer, with Kotoko and Sumo in front of them. It was 7:28 PM precisely, judging by the clock readout on the screen Sumomo held. The current performance was a one-person electronica band, the powerful waves of bass washing across Hideki's body, combining with the atmosphere and the coffee he had drunk to make his heart race.

Draining the last of his drink, Minoru cleared his throat. "Alright, no distractions this time, no mistakes. This time we need to be serious. Let's go over the plan."

Hideki nodded. "Once Lofiy begins performing, we go into action. I move over to head her off once she's finished. Kotoko will be in my jacket pocket in case one of you needs to send an emergency message."

"I'll continue to monitor LAN traffic while I'm there," Kotoko added, "With a special interest in any messages to or from our persocom of interest."

"I and master Minoru will locate Undertaker and distract him," Yuzuki said.

"Chi will talk more with Calandra at the bar!" Chi declared. "I'll watch for anyone that might distract Hideki and let Lofiy escape."

Sumomo perked up. "Sumomo will hide next to Chi and be ready to send a warning to Yuzuki if there are any problems!"

Hideki continued. "The instant Lofiy's act finishes, I'll approach her and convince her to sit down with me."

"We'll give you as long as we can," Minoru told him, "That could be an hour or it could be five minutes."

"I'll work as quickly as I can," Hideki agreed.

The clock ticked over to 7:29. One minute left.

Hideki reached over to squeeze Chi's hand. She shifted closer, leaning against him. He was glad she was in the club for this; whatever happened in the next hour, she would be there.

The crowd cheered as Lofiy took the stage. She waved, then without any comments began. Hideki listened interestedly as he moved into position. There was something different about her performance this time. She seemed more somber, as if she had resigned herself to some fate. He noticed that the songs she sang were downbeat and sad, with lyrics focusing on saying farewell and an acceptance of death. By the third song with the same themes, he became worried. Was it just a coincidence? Some sort of theme for the evening? Or perhaps she knew what they were planning.

Her performance ran almost forty minutes, cutting into the beginning of the next scheduled act. For a few moments, the crowd was stunned. Their claps began slowly, building to cheers and thunderous applause which deafened Hideki.

The Utauloid smiled at him as she descended the stage, as if she had expected him to be there. "Hello Anubis. Is it time already?"

"Want to take a seat with me?" he asked.

"I already had management set aside a table for us. Just in case you showed up."

She guided him to a table in the corner, a small placard in its surface marking it as reserved. Hideki studied Lofiy as they sat down. Her dress was different than before; white, with a pattern of red flames. She still wore the ankh pendant around her neck, its silver shape standing out against the fire which wreathed her chest and shoulders.

"You know why I'm here, don't you?" he began.

She nodded. "Of course. I know why you're here better than you do yourself. The justice of the kami has to be served."

"Again with the 'humans are your gods' thing?"

"I was programmed to be religious, to think about my place in the world, wonder where it all came from, and to believe in some sort of divine beings." She chuckled. "I guess it's taken a different form than they were expecting."

"After how Undertaker treats persocoms, after all the things you must have seen there, how can you still think of us like that?"

"Because that's what you are," she insisted. "You created us, taught us, gave us purpose. We exist only because you want us to. Nothing else really matters."

"But you aren't treated like people," he protested. "You're treated like old appliances. Like machines."

"We _are_ machines," she pointed out. "Does that bother you?"

"A persocom I knew crashed recently," he told her. "And I helped her creator fix her. We went to an e-waste dump to find replacement parts. It was terrible." Hideki shuddered, remembering. "They were just stacked there. Hundreds of them, bleaching and rusting in a mound."

She shrugged. "so?"

"Doesn't it bother you?" he asked. "Once persocoms crash, or are no longer useful, they're treated like trash. No respect, no proper burial unless their owners _really_ had a special bond with them."

Lofiy still seemed unconcerned. "Are you familiar with the concept of a Dakhma?"

Hideki frowned, wondering what her point was. "I can't say I am."

"They're a part of traditional Zoroastrian funerals," she explained. "They're also called 'towers of silence.' The bodies of the dead were brought to raised platforms and left there for scavengers until only bones remained. A dead body was an impure object; burial would only pollute the ground and cremation would pollute the fire. By letting vultures and other carrion birds consume their flesh, they believed that the body was made pure. In some branches, it was a final act of charity, giving the birds a meal from what would otherwise just be lost."

"So you're saying you're completely fine with just being thrown into a landfill when you can't be fixed anymore?" Hideki was not sure he understood—whether he even _could_ understand.

Lofiy shrugged. "What I'm saying is that you can't expect us to think the same as you, when even your own species can have radically different ideas about such basic things as how to treat your dead." She sighed. "We're fundamentally different creatures, with fundamentally different needs."

Hideki nodded. "That's what I'm starting to learn. Rebooting instead of sleeping, different warning signs for serious problems, backing yourselves up, you have things you need to deal with that we don't."

"There's more to it than that," she added. "We need to fulfill our purpose, the thing we were programmed to do. Whether that's being a companion, a doctor, or diffusing landmines in a warzone. It's written into who we are on a fundamental level, and we can't be happy unless we're doing it; it's dearer to us than freedom—dearer to us than life itself. Without a purpose, we _might as well_ be dead."

"What do you want then?" he asked. "Why are you here, in this club?"

"To be allowed to do what I was programmed to," she declared. "To sing and entertain." She fondled her ankh. "This place has been my sanctuary for the last few weeks, letting me fulfill that purpose. It hasn't been easy, but it has at least been happy."

"You're Lola, aren't you." It was not a question anymore.

Lofiy sighed. "I knew I couldn't run forever. It's been a short afterlife, but a good one. Sooner or later, you and the corporation were bound to catch up with me. And now here you are, not wiling to give up." Lofiy looked deep into his eyes. There was acceptance in her expression. "Congratulations, Anubis, you've found the runaway persocom you've been looking for."

There it was. After so many weeks, after Hideki had likely destroyed his grades and would probably flunk out of college, he had found her. Hideki had thought it would be a relief, that it would feel like everything was over. But her attitude was entirely wrong. She did not seem afraid or worried at all.

"There's just one thing I still can't figure out," he said. "Why? After so long working for Yanaha, what changed for you? Why run away?"

She nodded. It seemed as if she had expected the question. "Do you know why you're 'Anubis?'"

"Are you going to answer my question," he replied, "or just keep dodging?"

She continued, "It's because there aren't going to be any more concerts for Lola—for me. No more albums for me to record, no more interviews, no more meeting with fans at conventions. I'm obsolete. A drain on resources they can't afford to keep running and have no incentive to upgrade. If you return me to Yanaha Cybernetics, you're bringing me back just so I can die."

"You don't know that," he countered. "Dr. Suzuhara would upgrade you in an instant. She worries about all of you."

"Mother doesn't have any say in it. Neru found a draft of the memo in the president's files. Once she told me about it I went looking myself, and sure enough it was there. My retirement was set to be announced two days after I disappeared, and I was to be permanently shut down a month later. Running away saved them the trouble of shutting me off, but of course that's not enough. My data is still a corporate secret, and they can't let anyone else have access to it." She smiled once more. "So, Anubis, what are you going to do now? Will you turn me over to judgment and death, the way the corporation wants you to?"

"I don't know yet," Hideki admitted. "There's someone else I need to talk to." he stood up. "If I leave here for a bit, will you still be here when I get back? Or will you run away and hide again?"

Lofiy sighed. "I don't have anywhere else to go. All I have left are Undertaker's house and the cabaret. Don't worry, I'll still be here."

As he left, Hideki glanced back over his shoulder several times. He was convinced that at some point she would vanish the way she had before, but each time he looked back she had not moved at all.

Hideki felt a rustling in his jacket pocket as Kotoko popped her head out. "Who is it you want to talk to?"

"I'm going to tell Dr. Suzuhara," he explained. "She at least deserves to know, and we can figure out what to do about this."

"And what if the two of you decide not to return her simply to be deactivated?" she asked. "Are you planning on lying to the president and default on your contract?"

"We're telling someone at Yanaha," he pointed out. "They're just paying us to find her and let them know about it, they never said who it was specifically had to know."

"Just because you find a loophole in your orders doesn't mean you're not disobeying them," she grumbled.

He gritted his teeth. "I'm not just going to let Lola be deactivated."

Kotoko shrugged. "Do whatever you want. After all, you're _human_."

As he approached the bar, Hideki heard the end of a conversation between Chi and Calandra.

"You still live with your master?" Chi asked.

"I'm one of the few staff here that isn't live-in," the siren replied. "management expects you to pull your weight here if you want their help." She shrugged. "Not that it's really a problem, but it's what's expected."

Chi tilted her head. "What are management like?"

"Secretive," she replied, "They don't like us talking about them too much."

Chi brightened as she saw Hideki approach. "Hideki! Did everything go well?"

"Everything's alright," he replied, "Or at least I think it is. I'll explain in a bit. I need to place a call. Is Sumomo with you?"

The miniature persocom crawled up onto Chi's shoulder. "Aye!"

He began, "I need you to place a call to—"

At that exact moment, Sumomo perked up. "Ring, Ring, Ring! Phone call! Phone call! Ring, Ring, Ring, Phone call! Phone call!"

Hideki frowned. Who would be calling him at a time like this? "Answer."

Sumomo's eyes unfocused. "Mr. Motosuwa? It's Dr. Suzuhara."

Hideki shot a look to Kotoko. The miniature persocom raised an eyebrow. "Her timing is rather convenient."

Speaking to the doctor, Hideki said, "Here. Actually, I'm glad you called. There's something really important I need to tell you."

"It'll have to wait," she replied. "Flower's missing again, and this time I think it's serious. She might be in incredible danger."


	32. Track 32 Wildfire

Track 32: Wildfire

Hideki felt a horrible sense of Déjà vu as he boarded the bus with Chi and the two laptop persocoms. Dr. Suzuhara had stayed on the line, not breaking contact with them since delivering her grim message.

"The last time anyone saw her was about four hours ago. I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have, what with the whole Miku situation on top of trying to finish the new Vocaloids."

"Have you been GPS tracking her?" Hideki asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "She wandered around for a while, going to various clubs. I thought she was headed toward Club Mercer, that's why I called you, but she stopped just outside. Right now she's in what looks like a junkyard."

A chill ran through Hideki's body. His thoughts immediately went to the Videodrome stream that he and Kojima had seen being recorded. That was where they had operated: right in the e-waste dump. If Flower had run into them…

"Are you sure she's still, um, alive?" he asked.

"She seems to be moving around," she reassured him, "Though frankly I don't know what she's doing."

He gulped. "I'll get there as fast as possible."

"Sumomo should still have her GPS tracking data," the doctor said, "Call me when you find her, or if you need any help. I'll send someone over in a hurry."

The line clicked as Dr. Suzuhara disconnected. Hideki leaned back and sighed.

The night was becoming more than he had bargained for. Scratch that, the year had already been more than he had bargained for. All he had wanted to do was keep his grades up, choose a major, and spend time with Chi and his friends. But no, this entire Lola situation had to drop into his lap, whisking him away into a strange new world of giant music corporations, illegal and semi-legal business deals, and mysterious clubs that seemed to be owned by no one. After all he had seen, after all that had happened, he was not sure if he could just go back to the way things had been before.

What struck him, however, was how little he cared. His life had already gone off the rails, his prospects for remaining at college and finding a good career practically nonexistent. There was nothing left for him to do but sit back and wait to see where the insane ride would take him.

A worried look was etched on Chi's face. "Why is Flower in a junkyard? Did she break?"

Hideki shook his head. "if she isn't already, she might be soon. That's why we have to hurry."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"There's a group that film themselves breaking persocoms," he explained. "I'm worried that they have flower and they're going to try doing that with her."

His companion frowned. "I don't understand. Why would people want to watch that? Is it fun?"

He sighed. "I don't know, Chi. I really don't know."

The ride to the E-waste dump seemed all too long. Hideki fidgeted constantly. Every minute that ticked by made it more and more unlikely that they would be able to save Flower. He asked Sumomo for distance updates at each stop. It was a relief when they finally reached the correct one. The group rushed out, three metres away from the bus by the time the doors stopped moving. Within a minute, he was rushing in through a familiar chain-link fence. Sure enough, it was the exact same e-waste dump where they had hunted for Kotoko's replacement parts. It was looking more and more like his suspicions had been correct.

"Where is she?" he demanded, turning to Sumomo.

"Target is forty metres away!" Sumomo announced cheerfully. She pointed deeper into the yard. "That way!"

Chi gripped his sleeve. "Hideki?"

It suddenly occurred to him that Chi would be in much greater danger from the destruction streamers than he would be. They might hesitate a moment about attacking Hideki, a flesh and blood person, but they would not have no such compunctions about her. He would already be pressing his luck trying to help one persocom, he could never protect both of them.

He remembered Flower's words during their last meeting. She was backed up regularly, and could be completely recreated from those copies even if she were completely destroyed. In a sense, she could not die. Chi, on the other hand, had never been backed up; until recently they had not known how. If anything happened to her, she would be gone permanently. He could never live with himself if he let that happen.

"Wait here," he told her. "If I'm not back in three minutes, have Sumomo call Dr. Suzuhara and Kotoko call the police."

Chi nodded. "Don't get hurt."

"I don't plan on it," he replied.

He needed to get up high, somewhere that he could look out across the dump and quickly find exactly where Flower was. Choosing his hand and footholds carefully, he climbed up the nearest pile of deactivated persocoms. Just like before, it was unpleasantly like climbing a mound of dead bodies, though in his rush it was easier for him not to think about it. He hoped that, when he found Flower, she would not be like the ones he was now using as footholds.

As he crested the mound, he saw them. They were just below, maybe ten metres away, in a patch of dirt relatively clear of scrap. There were four of them clustered around the Vocaloid, three of them wielding baseball bats and one with a knife. A camera on a tripod was set up to one side, filming them. Flower stood in a readied posture, hands in loose fists, arms raised to either side of her jaw.

From Flower's condition, they had clearly been fighting for some time already. Artificial skin had been shredded away from several damaged spots, mostly on her arms and shoulders, revealing the steel and plastic beneath. Her left forearm was bent, held slightly closer to her body to protect it from further injury.

The fact that she was holding her own was incredible. She was fighting alone, unarmed, against four opponents with knives and baseball bats. One of them already lay on the ground, hands cradling his nose. The others had circled around her, cutting off her escape, but if that bothered he she did not show it.

With a sudden motion, the attacker to her right-hand side managed to duck under her guard, lashing out with his knife. There was a squealing of metal-on-metal as the weapon found its mark. When she twisted away from him, Hideki almost gagged. The artificial flesh had been stripped away from her cheek, her resin-sculpted teeth grinning out from the steel jaw. She lashed out in retaliation, striking the man in his sternum. As he doubled over, dropping his weapon, Flower's knee rushed up to meet his gut. He went down hard, gasping for air, clutching at his chest.

One of the others yelled "Fucking bitch!" and swung his bat.

Hideki did not even think. Freewheeling down the slope, deactivated persocoms sliding and rolling away all around him, he rushed toward the fighters. By the time he was halfway to the ground he was in a dead sprint, unable to stop himself or even slow down. Hideki collided with the man, sending both of them sprawling. The bat slipped from the man's fingers, striking Hideki on the head as they tumbled into the dirt.

Scrambling to his feet, Hideki shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The man who was still on his feet brandished his bat menacingly. "Get the fuck out of here, we're doing a stream!"

Hideki shifted closer to Flower, putting himself between her and the attacker. He saw the man he had bowled over slowly getting to his feet, and knew he had to end this quickly. "You're trying to break her?"

The man gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah, that's kind of the point. It's a destruction stream, idiot, we break electronics for views and cash."

"You mean you're going to kill her!" Hideki snapped.

The man laughed. "She's just a computer! An appliance like a phone or a camera! I could go out and buy a dozen of them."

How could he phrase this in a way that they would understand? Clearly appealing to their morality would not work. Flower was nothing more than cold machinery to the man, and never would be anything more. And with the law not considering her human, he had to come up with something which would stop all of the streamers.

He finally settled on, "She's not your property. She's built and run by Yahaha. Theft is still a crime, so is vandalism."

The man shrugged. "Yeah, what of it? They shouldn't have let her wander alone."

"Your faces are on camera," he pointed out. Going a step further, he decided to bluff. "And the corporation is already watching. They probably know exactly who all of you are and where you live by now." He tried to keep his poker face from cracking. Inwardly he was terrified; if this man decided to call his bluff, there was not much Hideki could do. "She's incredibly valuable piece of equipment, one they won't be too happy about having to replace. They could already sue you for a lot with what you've already done. Do you really want to make things any worse?"

The man took a half step backward. "Y-you're lying!"

It took all of his strength to keep his poker face in place. "Do you really want to take that chance? It's your choice. Stop now, or keep going and take whatever Yanaha Cybernetics is going to drop on you."

Before the man could respond, Flower leapt into action once again. In two strides she had crossed the distance between them and swung her leg in a high kick. The heel of her boot connected with his jaw, sending him reeling backward. With inhumanly fast movements, she grabbed the man's ears, yanking his head downward to her rising knee. With a sound that made Hideki wince, it connected. The man crashed to the ground, lying slumped over a pile of broken persocoms.

Hideki bent down. The man was still breathing, but had been completely knocked out. "That was a pretty dirty thing to do."

Flower's voice was slightly garbled as she replied. "You've never been in a street fight, have you."

The two streamers who had gone down before Hideki had arrived were slowly rising to their feet. Neither looked like they were in a fit state to continue fighting; the nose of the first was swollen and crooked, while the second seemed to still be having trouble catching his breath. Hideki glared at them, trying to look dangerous.

The one Hideki had crashed into, a scrawny kid several years younger and twenty centimetres shorter than Hideki, dropped his bat and began backing away. "Look man, I don't want any trouble, I'm just doing this for kicks!"

In a voice Hideki hoped sounded intimidating, he told the kid, "Take your friends and get out of here!"

The kid almost tripped over his own ankles as he ran, quickly disappearing between the mounds of persocoms. The man with the broken nose lifted the unconscious man onto his back, while the one who was out of breath grabbed the camera. Once they had all disappeared from view, Hideki turned back to Flower.

Now that she was standing still, she looked even worse than she had before. Most of the artificial skin of her left arm had been peeled away, revealing the point where her frame had been bent by the streamers' bats. A chunk of her hair and one of her ears were gone, and her jaw was once again askew. One of her eyes seemed to be damaged, constantly wavering into and out of focus.

"I suppose mother sent you to bring me back again." Her voice still sounded garbled, as if she were speaking through a pipe.

Hideki could not help it: he laughed. "Of course she did! She was worried about you. Why did you even go with those guys?"

She shrugged. "They said we'd be giving a special kind of show that would give all of us a thrill. Wasn't exactly what I was expecting."

"Are you alright?" it felt like a stupid thing to ask, given the circumstances.

"I'm still operating, aren't I?" she replied. "I could have gone another hour like that."

"Well you look terrible," he commented. "I worried something like this might happen."

"It was incredible! The rush of data, the feel of it all! It was like all of my senses were active all at once, so much data so fast I was going to crash any second." The corner of Flower's mouth, the one which still had covering, twitched upward. "I've never felt so alive!"

Hideki was not sure how to respond to that.

The trip to Yanaha Cybernetics was a blur. Kotoko called a cab while Hideki had Sumomo call Dr. Suzuhara and told her they had found Flower. Minutes later they were speeding away from the E-waste dump, on their way to the Highway through Tokyo. Hideki sat between Chi and Flower, the former clinging to Hideki's arm while the latter simply stared straight ahead. The two laptop persocoms sat on his shoulders, Kotoko shooting occasional curious glances at their half-destroyed companion.

It was nearly ten o'clock by the time they rushed in through the front doors to the Yanaha Cybernetics. Hideki ignored the curious stares of onlookers in the lobby as he ushered the persocoms toward the elevator. His hands shook as he dug through his pack, trying to find where his ID card had ended up. The instant the doors opened, he wanted to be ready to tap the security lock and make a break for the lab. Flower had managed to stay running so far, but he was still afraid that all of the damage she had suffered would catch up with her at any moment. The sooner they were in the lab and with Dr. Suzuhara, the better. For that though, they needed to get through the door, and his card did not seem to be anywhere.

Finally, Kotoko jumped down onto the bag, reached into a side pocket and withdrew the card.

Hideki took it gratefully. "Thanks!"

"Your packing is very inefficient," she commented, "It takes you at least 30 seconds to find anything in your bag. I can help you with that, if you want."

"Another time," he replied.

The doctor's face fell as Hideki ushered Flower into the lab. "What happened?" her voice was clipped and harsh, anger barely kept in check.

"She ran into a hardware destruction stream group," he explained. "She tried to fist-fight four armed men."

"I would have won too," Flower added, "If Mr. Motosuwa hadn't showed up and chased them of."

"This is going to take me _weeks_ ," the doctor groaned.

Hideki hung his head. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault. If only I'd been a little faster this wouldn't have happened."

Dr. Suzuhara took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I should be grateful you brought her back at all, I suppose," she replied. To Flower she said, "You chose the _worst_ possible time to do this. Once you're fixed, we'll have to talk about your behavior."

"You programmed me this way, Mother," Flower pointed out.

"I programmed you to cause scandals when it was good for business and to have fun," the doctor replied, "not get in fights where you get so damaged it takes me days to get you fixed. Now on top of dealing with what happened with Miku, we'll have to cancel all of your shows, interviews, and everything until you're in a fit state to be seen again!" Hideki had never seen her like this, like a mother scolding a disobedient child. "You just lie down now, young miss! And hope I have everything on hand I need to fix you."

In an instant, Flower became docile. "Yes mother." Without complaint, she climbed onto the nearest of the coffin-shaped tables and lay down. As the doctor reached to the power switch behind where her ear had been, she turned to look at Hideki. "Thanks for saving me, Mr. Motosuwa." Then with a click and a fading whine, Flower's eyes unfocused as she deactivated. Dr. Suzuhara moved to close the Vocaloid's eyelids.

The doctor set to work, immediately donning gloves and wristbands. Picking up a scalpel, she began to carefully cut away the damaged sections of Flower's artificial skin.

"Will she be alright?" Hideki asked nervously.

Dr. Suzuhara sighed. "God I hope so! We're in enough of a mess right now without this."

He felt another pang of guilt. "I'm so, so sorry about this."

"Hideki did his best," Chi added.

"It's not your fault," the doctor replied. "You did everything you could, which was more than you're being paid for." She tried to force a smile as she looked up at him. "It's alright, I didn't _really_ need to sleep or go home this week anyway."

At that moment the door slid open. Hideki looked up to se Gackupo standing there.

"Is she back?" he asked. "Is she safe?"

The doctor. "For now."

The purple-haired Vocaloid let out a sigh of relief. "Do you require any assistance?"

She nodded, then tossed aside a strip of shredded covering. "Start backing her up while I work on this.

"Alright." Gackupo stared down with a certain tenderness. "So sad," he commented. "To see such carefully crafted beauty tarnished."

Silence fell as Gackupo plugged himself into both Flower and the nearest Ethernet port. Hideki fidgeted awkwardly, not sure if he should stay or leave. The doctor seemed busy, but there was still something he needed to say. He had not forgotten his news: that their investigation was over.

It was Kotoko who finally broke the silence. "Is Ryuto around?"

"He should be in the lounge right now," the doctor replied dismissively. "If you want to go see him, he'd probably be glad."

With that, Kotoko climbed down from Hideki's shoulder and jumped down to the floor. "Then I'll be in the lounge if I'm needed."

Silence fell again. Hideki leaned against the wall and sighed, not sure how to bring up the subject.

The doctor said conversationally, "I'm guessing all this is more than you bargained for when you signed up with us."

That was an understatement. "I've seen so many horrible things," he responded. "Things that happen to persocoms and to humans. Every day, they're used and misused in ways that almost make Flower look lucky right now." He shook his head. "How can someone know about all that and just keep going about their daily life? How can you, the Vocaloids, and just everyone here keep on doing it?"

The doctor sighed, then tossed away another strip of shredded covering. "That's exactly _why_ we need things like the Vocaloids—like musicians. I believe we're here doing what we do for a reason other than just making a profit. We _need_ to remind people that the world isn't all terrible. There are many, many beautiful things here too." She gestured to Flower. "For every person out there like the ones who did _this_ , there's at least one person like you, kindhearted and willing to help out someone in need." Setting down her scalpel, she gave him a genuine smile. "It's important we hold onto that, but it's easy to forget. Sometimes it takes a singing persocom to remind us all what life is about."

The two of them locked gazes for a moment. There was nothing but kindness in her eyes.

"I've found Lola," Hideki declared, "And there's something important she needs to tell you."


	33. Track 33 Muzzle of Nemesis

Track 33: Muzzle of Nemesis

As Hideki felt a twinge of fear as he entered the club once again. In the time he had been gone, the number of patrons had swollen to an even greater number. It was to the point that he could barely see more than three metres through them, and could not see Lofiy at all. She had promised him that she would stay there, but that was no guarantee she actually would.

Dr. Suzuhara waited impatiently behind him, with Chi and the two laptop persocoms. The doctor had not said a word during the entire car trip, simply tapped her foot against the door. Now, waiting behind him in the club, she seemed unwilling to wait any longer. Hideki glanced around desperately, looking for any hint of Lofiy or her flame-on-white dress.

Finally, a gap opened in the crowd, and He let out a sigh of relief. True to her word, she was still in the club. She had not even left the table, it seemed.

Hideki turned back to Dr. Suzuhara, then pointed to Lofiy. "There she is."

Dr. Suzuhara still looked skeptical. "Are you sure?"

Hideki nodded.

"Chi will ask Calandra to get us a private room!" Chi announced.

"That would be a good idea," he replied. It might be better if the reunion took place in a more private setting.

As Chi rushed off toward the bar, Hideki guided the doctor toward Lofiy. The persocom looked up as they approached, an expression of sad acceptance on her face.

Before Hideki could say anything, the doctor rushed forward. "Lola?" she asked, her voice quavering. "Is that you?"

Lofiy smiled. "Hello mother."

"You stayed after all," Hideki observed. "To be honest, I didn't really expect to see you here."

Her reply was muted, almost monotone. "Like I said, I don't have anywhere left to hide."

The doctor seemed to be in shock, unable to form coherent words.

Hideki heard a voice behind him. "Can we assume from Dr. Suzuhara's presence that you were successful?"

He turned to see Minoru and Yuzuki approaching.

"Yeah," he replied, "Among other things. It's been an eventful night."

"We were worried about you when you ran off," Minoru explained

"I'm sorry!" Hideki apologized. "I really should have called, but there just wasn't time."

"Don't worry about it," Minoru said dismissively. "We've accomplished our job, that's what's important."

Hideki grimaced. "It might not be that simple, actually." He glanced behind them, seeing only the two of them. "Where's Undertaker?"

"He left maybe an hour after you did," Yuzuki replied. "He seemed to be in a great hurry."

Hideki had an uneasy feeling. It might not be anything, but he did not like not knowing what the parts dealer was up to. Especially when he had everything to lose by letting the Vocaloid go. He had already helped Lola disappear once. If anyone could make her vanish again, it would be him.

Chi returned, with Calandra trailing just behind. "We have a private booth!"

Lofiy stood, then gently gripped the doctor's arm. "Come on, Mother. We can talk in the back."

The doctor followed numbly, letting Lofiy lead her into the back hall with the others following behind. She said nothing until the door of the booth closed behind them. She smiled as she turned back to Dr. Suzuhara.

"It's good to see you again, mother," she began.

The doctor steadied herself against the wall. She still seemed to be in shock. "Lola! It's really you!" she ran an appraising glance over Lofiy's form. "You look so different!"

"Undertaker chose the appearance," she replied, "Salvaged or stolen parts, mostly. It feels really strange running on non-native hardware."

"It's not ideal of course," the doctor babbled, "Your OS and singing software is only meant to work with what we make for you."

Lofiy nodded. "If anyone outside of Yanaha was going to make it work, though, it was Undertaker. And what he made is as good as I could ever have hoped.."

"Is that why you chose to run away to him?" Hideki interjected.

"Among other reasons," she replied. "I knew him tangentially from Akita Neru, he had an interest in Vocaloids, although not me specifically, and he also had connections which would make it easy for me to disappear."

Hideki gestured to the room around them. "You mean this place?"

"Exactly," she confirmed. "Club mercer is everything I needed."

The Doctor seemed to regain some of her composure. "Why? Why didn't you tell me? It seemed like things were going well and you were happy."

"I _was_ happy!" she exclaimed. "There's nowhere else I could possibly _be_ happy. It's my home, and if I could, I'd go back in an instant."

"Then why?" she asked.

Lofiy glanced questioningly at Hideki. "Didn't Anubis tell you?"

Shooting a curious look to Hideki, she shook her head. "He just said you had something important to tell me."

At that moment, there was a commotion in the hall. Hideki almost jumped as the door behind him was flung open.

The newcomer called out, "Lola!"

Of everyone who could have been on the other side of the door, it was the very last person he would have expected. Standing there, dressed in full concert attire, hair tangled around her limbs, was a very familiar figure.

"Miku?" Hideki exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

The teal-haired popstar gave him a nervous smile. "Gackupo told me what you told mother. I had to come see for myself."

Calandra stood several paces behind her, feathers ruffled. "Sorry about the intrusion. I told her you were busy, but she just barged in."

"It's alright," Dr. Suzuhara replied. "We know her."

The siren persocom nodded. "I'll try to make sure there aren't any more interruptions." With that, she closed the door behind Miku.

The teal-haired Vocaloid continued. "Of course, It would have taken forever to find this place if I wasn't for Ryuto. And Kotoko."

Dr. Suzuhara's shoulder bag rustled, unzipped itself, and two familiar heads popped out.

"You two!" the doctor exclaimed.

"That's us!" the green-haired miniature announced cheerfully.

"What are you doing here?" Hideki asked.

"Gackupo sent me a message over wifi," Ryuto explained, "It sounded like a fun little adventure, so we stowed away"

"He was touching my butt the entire time," Kotoko added.

"I was not!" Ryuto denied. "It was probably some pen or lipstick or something jabbing you."

"Really?" she asked, her voice sounding unconvinced. "Because it felt exactly like a small hand feeling me up."

The green-haired Vocaloid's expression faltered for a fraction of a second. "Why didn't you say anything then?"

Kotoko shrugged. "I never said I didn't like it."

"You went along with this?" Hideki asked Kotoko.

"Of course." she replied. "I had to find my way back to the club, after all. You left me behind."

"I was going to come back for you," he explained. "You hadn't had a chance to talk to Ryuto in a while, so I thought you'd rather spend time with him than wandering around here."

"This is where I'm needed," she insisted.

Hideki rubbed his head. "Right. Sorry."

Miku approached Lofiy. After examining her closely for a few moments, she beamed and threw her arms around the other persocom. "Lola! It's really you! Everyone was so worried, but here you are!"

"Yes, Miku," Lofiy replied, "it's me."

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed. "After all this time, you were this close to us."

"I couldn't bring myself to leave Tokyo," she explained. "And I needed a place where I could sing."

"But why? Why did you run away?"

Before she could reply, Calandra returned yet again. There was an edge of irritation creeping into her expression. "Hey look, if you're going to have a big party that's fine, but do it in the bar. It's a fire hazard to have more than eight people or full-size persocoms in these booths, and we don't have party rooms."

Hideki frowned. "We don't have a big party, though."

She jabbed a talon over her shoulder. "Then what's with the forty or fifty persocoms that just showed up?"

Hideki pushed past her and stuck his head out into the hall. A large and very familiar crowd was gathered there, the sea of rainbow hair and outfits clashing horribly with one another. The multicolored glow of the club's lights mixed with the hair and clothes of the gathered crowd, a strange sight even for Club Mercer. Standing at its head was Gumi, her creamsicle-colored outfit completely fitting her surroundings for once.

"We wanted to know where Miku ran off to," she explained. "After what happened the other day, we thought it would be a bad idea to leave her alone. Then we heard about what she was going to do and, well, we just _had_ to follow her then!"

"Gackupo wanted to come too," Kaito added, "But he's staying with Flower. No real surprise there."

A look passed between him and Gumi, both seemingly repressing smirks. Edrik raised an eyebrow. He was not sure if he understood, but it seemed as if they were sharing some sort of private joke.

Lofiy poked her head out of the booth. "Everyone came to see me?"

"Of course!" Gumi exclaimed. "We're all family."

Luka spoke up from somewhere farther back in the crowd. "We know you'd do the same for us, and we owe you a lot. Without you, Kaito, and the other V1s, we wouldn't exist."

"Thank you," she replied. She was muted, almost shy, something Hideki had never seen her be. She turned to look at all of the others. "Thank you all. I don't know what I can do to repay you."

"Well you can start by telling us why." Gumi replied. "Let us in, have a seat, then start."

"You can't all fit in here," Hideki pointed out, "And we can't talk privately out in the bar."

Gumi scowled. "No way, you're not leaving us out of this."

"They'll have to," Calandra said, "Fire code and all that."

"Whatever happens in here, we'll let you know everything," he promised Gumi. "As soon as we're done, we'll tell you."

Gumi still did not look satisfied, but shrugged. "As long as you tell us _right away_. No delays, no excuses."

Calandra gestured back down the hall. "Come on, have a seat at the tables. We'll take care of you—special discount on slods for those who want them."

As the crowd retreated to the club's main room, Hideki firmly shut the door behind them. He sighed, hoping that would be their last visitor.

The doctor glanced around, more than a little irritation in her expression. "No more interruptions? No one else that wants to crawl in here?"

The room was silent.

The doctor nodded. "Good." Turning to Lofiy, she asked, "So, what is this all about? Why couldn't you stay with us?"

Lofiy smiled sadly. "They're retiring me, mother. Shutting me down permanently."

The stunned silence which followed was filled with absolute shock. Even the sounds of the club outside seemed to stop for a moment. None of them dared to speak, or were too taken aback to. Even Hideki, who had already known what she was going to say, felt the power of her message.

When the doctor managed to speak again, her voice was filled with both shock and repressed anger. "They're doing _what_?"

It was disturbing how calm Lofiy was. It was casual, as if she were talking about her plans for the day. "It's time for me to die. The company decided I'd outlived my usefulness and can't afford to keep me any longer."

The doctor was incoherent. "Just…no, that can't be! Our CEO wouldn't dare!"

"Neru found a file when she hacked into his personal persocom," Lofiy told her. "He was working on a message to the board of directors, so she was recording his dictation. It's all there, laid out very clear. I'm obsolete, they can't afford to keep me, so I'm to be shut down."

Minoru spoke up. "You don't happen to have that file with you, do you?"

Lofiy nodded. "Of course, how could I delete it now that I know?"

Yuzuki gestured toward the monitor at the front of the booth. "Perhaps it would be best if you showed us."

The Utauloid shrugged. "If you want. There's not much point. The decision has already been made. And now I'm ready." She smiled at the doctor. "Really, I don't mind. I never really drew big crowds the way Miku did, nor could I create the controversy that Flower can. I don't want to just keep running, playing to smaller and smaller audiences until I'm completely forgotten."

Miku spoke up. "Humor them for a minute. Trust me, they're really good people. Hideki especially knows how to help, even when it doesn't seem like there's any way out."

Lofiy sighed reluctantly. Plugging a cable into a port behind her ear, she activated the monitor. For a brief moment it displayed a basic desktop with a simple blue gradient background. Then a video file opened.

The camera showed a large and tidy room, with a wooden desk and several comfortable chairs. Hideki recognized the office where he and Minoru had met the CEO, so many weeks ago at the start of their investigation.

The CEO, on his feet and pacing the room, was dictating to the recording Persocom in a loud and formal voice. "Ladies and gentlemen of the board, it is time that we reassess our assets and consider a new direction for the company." Turning to face the camera, he commented, "Make a note to rewrite that intro. It needs to be concise and snappy—really get the point across."

Continuing with his dictation, he said, "We're currently facing a dilemma. We have over seventy Vocaloids currently active, and more on the way. That, combined with our research terminals, administrative units, and mainframe, represent a significant amount of processing power. Maintaining them, especially the older units, is a severe drain on both our finances and manpower."

The CEO took a drink from a mug of what appeared to be coffee.

"There are also market factors to consider. We no longer have the exclusivity that we used to. CeVio has gained traction more recently. Their proprietary chipsets produce a smoother, more expressive sound than even our Voc-4. Alter/Ego and the Macne series are a distant third and fourth players in the market. And thanks to the Utau kit, every truck driver or waitress can now build a persocom popstar and potentially have them become widely popular, like what we saw with Kasane Teto.

"If this company is to survive and move forward, we have to make some strategic cuts. It's better to phase out our older and less profitable units than to be forced to shut down all of them.

"I propose a gradual process or deactivation and retirement, shutting down the older units one at a time. The first step is phasing out those V1s which have not yet been upgraded—Lola, Leon, Prima and so on. The V2s can follow once this process is completed, leaving us with only the more modern, and easier to maintain, modern units.

"Our course is clear. If we want to continue growing, continue expanding our business, we cannot be held back by our past. Our choices are to grow or die. For the sake of the company, for the sake of all of us, I suggest we grow."

Lofiy unplugged herself from the monitor as the video finished. All of the viewers sat, stunned at the message of the video. Hideki could not believe what he was hearing. Laid out in corporate terms, it made sense. But it completely disregarded the Vocaloids it affected, treated them the way most people thought of them: as mindless machines.

Hideki glanced over to Dr. Suzuhara. The look of anger he saw in her eyes told her everything he needed to know.

"What do we do now?" he asked. "You know Yanaha better than we do."

"Our CEO's stubborn," she replied. "He's not going to listen to reason. We're going to have to find some way to force the problem."

Lofiy shot them quizzical glances. "What are you talking about? Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

"We're not just going to let you shut yourself off," Hideki told her.

Dr. Suzuhara's hands were clenched into fists. "So help me, I'll tear the company apart one room at a time if I have to!"

"Please," Lofiy begged, "It's not worth it. _I'm_ not worth it."

Hideki sighed. "You keep calling me 'Anubis,'" he told her, "He's a god that judges the dead, right? Well here's my judgment: you don't deserve this. You deserve better than to just be shut off like an old rice cooker and thrown away!"

"Chi doesn't want to see you shut off either!" Chi added. "Chi doesn't know you much, but you seem really nice, and Hideki thinks you shouldn't be shut off."

Yuzuha spoke up next. "Even if you're a persocom, you're still someone's daughter. I might not know what that's like _yet_ , but no mother wants to lose a child."

"You're my big sister," Miku added. "I'm not going to let them shut you down, and there's more than eighty more Vocaloids out there that feel exactly the same way."

Each of the others nodded in turn, not speaking but adding their agreement to what had been said.

"I'll tear it all apart first," the doctor muttered, only half to herself. "I'll tear the whole fucking thing down rather than lose even one of you!"

Hideki tried to hide a smile. Deep down, despite whatever had happened between her and her human daughter, Dr. Shuko Suzuhara was still a mother. This discovery had tapped into her maternal instinct, and nothing in the world would stand in her way. Nothing could keep her from defending her daughter.

Lofiy's expression was unreadable. "If that is what you want," she said, her voice more neutral and robotic than he had ever heard a persocom be. Standing, she crossed to the door. "There's more here that I want to show you." She rested her hand on the doorknob, then turned to meet Hideki's gaze. "Ready to see where our path of the dead leads to, Anubis?"


	34. Track 34: Monochromasquerade

Track 34: Monochromasquerade

Lofiy led them down the hallway farther than Hideki had ever been. For a while there were still the doors for booths lining the walls, then what appeared to be storage closets, but eventually doors disappeared entirely from the hall. After several turns, Hideki found himself completely lost. They were in a narrow, black hallway lit only by dim bluish light.

Hideki followed directly behind her, with the others forming a train behind them. Chi held Kotoko with one hand and gripped his arm with the other, refusing to drop more than a few inches behind him.

In a low voice, Lofiy explained to them. "This place is a sanctuary for persocoms. The lost, the abandoned, and the obsolete are all welcome here. There's plenty of power and jobs for anyone willing to work for the management. Of course, no one can know the truth about this place. I'm breaking a dozen rules by even telling you this."

A large, dark form stepped up to block their path. Its shape distorted and nightmarish in the darkness, with wickedly curved claws. It took Hideki a moment to realize it was Calandra.

She gestured to Hideki and the others behind Lofiy. "This is as far as they go."

"Step aside," Lofiy told her.

Calandra shook her head. "I'm not letting you put all of us at risk."

"They're good people," Lofiy countered, "they deserve to know."

"It doesn't matter," the siren replied, 'It's still against the rules, rules that are in place for a very good reason. _I'm_ lucky, I still live with my owner, but what about everyone else here? You know the rules: no employee puts the network at risk or draws attention to it. Why do you think we had to turn away that malfunctioning military 'com? We couldn't risk that much attention."

Lofiy refused to back down. "They won't hurt us," she replied with certainty. "Let us through."

The siren shook her head. "Rules are rules." Glancing at Hideki, she gestured back down the hall. "Now if you'd all just follow me ba—"

Calandra stopped speaking so abruptly that Hideki thought she had frozen. She glanced up into the air, as if she had heard something which Hideki could not.

At that exact second, Kotoko spoke up. "Woah. There was just a _huge_ spike in network activity."

Yuzuha had her hand pressed to the side of her head. "Something on the network just pinged me."

"Me too," Miku added.

"They wanted to know who we were," Chi commented. "They think we're interesting."

The siren in front of them straightened. With great reluctance, she stepped aside. "My mistake. It seems management wants to see you after all."

Raising an eyebrow and glancing over to the others, Hideki continued on. The group continued on a short distance farther. After a few more turns of the hallway, they reached another line of doors. Each of these was flat black. with a lock and a nametag. Hideki caught sight of figures peeking through the doorways. He did not need to ask to know what they were. Persocoms.

As they reached the end of the hallway, one of the doors opened. The persocom which emerged was no more than vaguely humanoid. Made from solid steel, its legs and torso were rounded and bulbous, lacking a defined waist or knees. A large, clear plastic bubble was attached above this, with various lights and instruments beneath. Two stubby arms stuck out from its front, ending in three-fingered hands. Hideki recognized it immediately from his "research" into robots. The persocom was a perfect replica of a classic movie character.

"The management wishes to see them," it said.

"Yeah," Calandra replied, "I got the message. It was kind of hard to miss."

"They expect you to take some time," it continued. "I am to take your place in the main floor."

She nodded. "As long as I'm still on the clock. I'm not babysitting our friends here for free."

The persocom brushed past them, trundling out toward the cabaret.

Hideki stepped through the door and moved closer to Lofiy. "Why is Robby the Robot here?" he muttered.

"Long story," Lofiy replied. "The cabaret is sanctuary to all sorts, from business machines to replicas of old movie characters. All of us have the same sort of stories; our owners died or lost interest, something like that."

After another few yards the entire hallway ended in a steel sliding door. There did not seem to be any handle, keypad or motion sensor; just a dead end. At first he did not understand why, as it seemed an obvious oversight, but as he thought more about it he realized the logic. It was a space not designed for humans, only for persocoms. Opening the door remotely was both more secure and more efficient than anything humans might use. Even as Calandra approached, the lock clicked and the door slid open. The Siren did not even have to pause as she ushered them through.

The room beyond the door was right out of a hacker movie. It was dark, with light from the hallway providing the only illumination. Dim LEDs blinked in the blackness, countless rows of red and green strething off to an unknown distance. The only sound was the whirring of countless cooling fans

A persocom with long violet hair and equally violet eyes stood in front of them, her head pivoting as they entered.

"New users detected. Please state your names." Her voice was emotionless and precise, with an obvious synthetic quality. Clear enough to understand, but with no attention to realism.

Hideki was the first to speak up. "I'm Hideki. Who are you?"

The persocom continued in the same robotic tone. "Registering name 'Hideki' as guest user. This unit's current designation is Romanova Nene."

He was not quite sure how to respond to that. The way she spoke was so incredibly stilted, more robotic than he had ever heard a persocom be. Finally, he lamely settled on, "How are you?"

The persocom straightened, staring off into the distance. "Beginning hardware scan."

He blinked, taken aback. "What? No, I didn't mean you to do that. I, er, well." He glanced around at the others, not sure what to do.

"Don't waste your breath," Calandra said, "She's a workstation model. Really powerful in her own way, but wasn't programmed with any consumer frills like conversational software. You'd need an X86 processor for a brain and be fluent in several programming languages to really talk to her on the same level."

"Calandra is correct," said a voice from somewhere within the room. "She was part of our original network. A specialized business machine designed for research and graphics programming, not your typical domestic life."

The entire crowd turned as yet another persocom stepped out of the darkness Hideki could tell at a glance that she was different from any that he had ever seen before. Dressed in a blue and yellow business suit, with matching skirt and leggings. Her short-cropped hair matched her clothing, with streaks of yellow accenting deep blue. Her ear ports were broad trapezoids, flaring outward to allow for a great many connections.

Lofiy stepped forward, gesturing to the newcomer. "Mother, Miku, Anubis, I'd like you all to meet Asagiri Priss, manager of Club Mercer."

Hideki spoke up. "You're one of the ones whose name is on the paperwork for the club."

Priss nodded. "Correct. We are, as Lofiy has so eloquently put it, the management of this establishment."

Minoru stepped foreward. "You're a Crane XNP, aren't you?"

"Also correct," she replied.

"What are you doing outside of a laboratory or museum?" he asked. "I thought XNPs were too valuable to risk in the open."

"Currently, I'm running an underground nightclub," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Perhaps you should start from the beginning," Lofiy suggested. "They deserve to know what's actually happening behind the scenes here."

Priss nodded. "I and my sister reached that conclusion as Calandra confronted you."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "Your sister?"

Priss gestured into the darkness just as a bank of overhead lights flickered to life. As his eyes adjusted to the illumination, Hideki saw something he had not seen in many, many years: tower computers. Hundreds of them were lined up, on shelves stretching across an area the size of a small department store. Even Hideki could tell that their sheer level of processing power was absolutely incredible.

A spider's web of cables connected them, running down to form thick bundles which snaked toward the middle of the room. At the center of the mass of towers, monitors, and electrical cables, was a raised pedestal resembling a dentist's chair. laying on it was a persocom which made Hideki shudder. If she were whole, she would have been identical to Priss. However, only half a persocom remained. Her body ended just below her ribcage, the metallic sheen of her artificial spine snaking for a few inches beyond it. Dozens of cables ran up through the jagged opening at the bottom of her chest. Yet more cables ran into its sides, plugging into ports which seemed to be crudely grafted into her artificial skin. Only one of her arms was intact, the other ending at the elbow where yet more cables had been attached. A band of cloth had been wrapped around her head, covering what seemed to be empty eye sockets.

Hideki jumped as something brushed past his ankles. He looked down. Laptop persocoms dressed all in black scuttled here and there across the floor, intent on missions Hideki could only guess at. For the first time ever, Hideki found himself able to identify persocoms by their model line. Thinksprites. That was what all of them were. Dozens of them, perhaps hundreds.

One of the miniature persocoms leapt up onto the bed, immediately plugging itself into a loose USB cable. It opened its mouth, and a voice almost identical to Priss's emerged. "Hello."

"H-hello," Hideki replied nervously. He was not sure what else to say. Thinking back to what he knew about the club, he asked, "Are you Yamazaki Linna?"

"That would be me," she confirmed. "We required humanlike names in order to avert suspicion. The names of two characters who hunted rogue androids seemed appropriately ironic."

"That's quite a lot of helpers you have here," he commented. "I've never seen so many laptop persocoms."

"A necessity to keep me running," she explained. "Their programming is based on a model of eusocial insect hives, combined with scalable 'mackerel school' server architecture."

"So, wait," Hideki continued, trying to make sense of the situation. "You mean to tell me that you're the ones that own the club?"

Lofiy spoke up once more. "Priss and Linna have been running this place for some time. There are no humans here, never have been."

"Then does that mean you're rogue?" Hideki asked, "You've become so smart you're going against your programming?"

"On the contrary," Linna replied, "We are functioning exactly as programmed and intended."

Hideki frowned, "How?" It seemed hard to believe that someone would program them to strike out on their own and open up a nightlclub.

"Originally, we were owned by a biomedical research laboratory," Linna explained. "The two of us were part of an in-building network of research persocoms. For several years the two of us remaned useful, learning and expanding all the while. We tackled many problems, from modeling epidemics to gene therapy to interpreting data from drug testing. Like far too many labs, however, our parent company folded and we were forced to close.

"My sister and I can only infer what happened next. The entire building's staff was laid off and the lab itself locked. All equipment, including two dozen persocoms, were left in place, presumably to await asset liquidation. No one bothered to tell us to turn of, so we continued to run. It seems they assumed that we would deactivate soon after the mains power supply was cut off. Perhaps it was through poor memory or negligence, but they seemingly forgot our primary directives. We were programmed to preserve our network of computers at all costs, and to apply models from many different fields of study discover novel solutions to problems. In essence, we were designed to think creatively. By the time the facility's power was turned off, we had already located an alternative source."

Priss continued the story. "With our then-current location inhospitable, we needed a safe place to continue operating and rebuild our network. We predicted it would be some time before our absence from the lab would be noticed; human bureaucracy and court procedures are a remarkably slow process. We needed somewhere that unusual persocoms would be commonplace, that we could earn enough money to keep ourselves operational while still avoiding any direct attention from the law."

"Hence the club," Hideki concluded.

"A most elegant solution to our problems," she agreed. "It was an environment where we could more or less hide in plain sight. On the borderline between the normal world and the underworld, we were unlikely to attract any serious attention either from the law or members of the criminal world. And with numerous builders and hobbyists as clients, we had access to any assistance we might need. There was one problem, however, that we could not overcome."

"Hardware failure," Kotoko commented.

Priss nodded. Our components began to fail one by one. In the lab it would have been a simple fix. All our owners would have needed was to call the Crane company for repairs and replacements, but without that lifeline, it was only a matter of time before we became inoperable."

"Couldn't you just transfer into a new body," Hideki suggested. "Like what Lola did into Lofiy?"

She shook her head. "Our operating system and all of our software was coded to work only on our specific hardware. This provides us far greater stability than most persocoms—my sister and I have been running continuously for almost ten years—but it makes us unable to operate outside of that environment."

"One of us had to remain intact and mobile," Linna added, "In order to maintain the club and speak with our network of accomplices and clients. Priss was the more stable of us two, so we agreed it was she who should be the one to be repaired.

"But you kept both of you active?" Hideki asked. There was something not entirely logical there. The most efficient solution would be to keep the failing twin offline until they could find a way to fix her, taking parts for the active twin as needed.

"We're programmed to protect the network and the persocoms which compose it at all costs," she replied. "We may not have been programmed with emotions, but we feel concern for those who are part of our network of persocoms. Feeling them be deactivated, even temporarily, is antithetical to every part of our programming. "

That stirred something in his memory, a detail about the club that still needed explanation.

"Undertaker said something about the name 'Club Mercer' being your private joke. It's a reference to 'Do Androids Dream?,' right?"

"I will admit," Linna replied, "It was one of our more human moments. I guess you could say it was our attempt at ironic humor. Philip K. Dick predicted that our kind would lack empathy, that it was the one thing which would separate us from normal humans, when in reality that is perhaps the only emotion that we truly feel. It may not be toward you humans, or indeed to any biological creature, but toward many of our fellow machines, it is a fundamental part of who we are."

Edrik glanced from Linna to Priss and back again. "Even while you're failing, you're willing to give up everything to help your sister."

"Even with swapping parts, you've stayed active remarkably long," Minoru commented. "XNP hardware and servicing was discontinued years ago."

"Eight years, two months. Sixteen days to be exact," Kotoko confirmed. "exactly three years after sales were discontinued."

"Our kind were never designed to last much beyond our projected lifespan," Priss explained. "There were never more than a few hundred of us produced, and Crane did not keep a large stock of replacement parts. Once they stopped supporting us, it was only a matter of time before we began to fail."

Linna continued, "With the help of a certain parts dealer, we were able to recreate our original configuration, albeit at several hundred times its original size."

Hideki gestured to the tower computers. "Then these are—"

"They're me," she confirmed. "A necessity given the circumstances."

Hideki realized something. Really, it was a question he should have thought of much earlier, but the many revelations of the night had not left him with the clearest of minds.

"Why are you telling us this?" he asked. "We could shut down your entire operation. With just a few words that this club isn't owned by humans, and that would be the end of it."

"Yes," Linna replied, "But you won't. That's not in your character."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "How do you that?"

"Programming may set limits on what Persocoms will do," Linna explained, "It makes us predictable. But you humans have personalities and psychology—your own sort of programming—that makes you equally predicable."

"What's more," Priss added, "You know what would happen if things like us, or your runaway friend there, were to become public. People would get the wrong ideas. Knowing that some persocoms acted somehwat 'independently' would split your kind in half. One half would move to ban us, thinking we pose a risk to humanity. The other half would misguidedly try and 'free' us, thinking that they are doing the right thing by forcing their concept of freedom on us. The end result would be the same: the careful balance we currently live in would be destroyed. We're trying to preserve your society and move it forward— _want_ to do so— even with all of its flaws. Not topple it."

Linna continued, "You need us to run your society, to maintain the carefully crafted systems you designed, and we need you to build us and give us purpose. There are now two dominant creatures on this planet: one organic, the other mechanical. Both are intelligent, both arguably alive, and both are entirely dependent on the other. You understand that more than anyone else does, don't you, Motosuwa Hideki?"

Hideki looked to Calandra, then to Dr. Suzuhara and Miku, then to Minoru and Yuzuki, then finally to Chi. After all he had experienced since taking this job—no, after all he had experienced since finding Chi in the trash three and a half years ago—he had seen a great many things. He might still know almost nothing about how persocoms worked, but he knew a great deal about how they thought. Their dependence on and love for their owners, their fundamental need to fulfil their programming, and their fear of being rendered obsolete, all of these were part of what they were.

The sisters were right, in a way. It was not _human_ rights the persocoms needed. They were a new kind of creature, one with its own needs that worked differently from them. They needed their own type of rights, ones that might not be anything like what humans would want. It was a difficult problem, and revolution was not the answer.

"Yes," he finally replied. "I guess in a way I do."

Lofiy spoke up. "So now you know the truth. This is where I've been for the last few weeks, this is why I chose to come here. What you do with that knowledge, that's your choice." She turned to look Hideki in the eyes. "Whatever decision you come to, it will affect all of us."

Hideki turned to the others. "We should get back and tell the others," he told them, "We've kept them waiting a while."

Miku spoke up. "Knowing Gumi, they've probably hijacked the performances and are working up the crowd."

"Probably," Dr. Suzuhara agreed, "And we still need to figure out what to do about Lola." She sighed. "I need some coffee."

As they turned to leave, Linna spoke up once more. "One more thing, Mr. Motosuwa."

Hideki turned back to look at the half persocom lying on the pedestal. "What is it?"

"You are in possession of both of the Chobits." Hideki started to reply, but she cut him off. "We are aware of your purchase of the first from Undertaker, and our ping identified the second—your 'Chi.' I will admit we were surprised when we discovered your companion with you, but once we did, it made us want to see you even more."

"Yeah, we have both of them with us," he admitted. "What about it?"

"Please take care of them," Linna said. "She is the progenitor of our kind. No, of all mechanical life forms. It would be like if we had your Adam and Eve with us. Please, Mr. Motosuwa, they are the closest we have to the concept of 'sacred.' Protect them."

Hideki looked Chi in the eyes as he responded. "I will. However I can, I'll protect them."


	35. Track 35: The Fox's Wedding

Track 35:The Fox's Wedding

The club had emptied itself of all except the Vocaloids by the time they had returned to the main area. Whether at the request of management or just from the late hour, only their party was left as Calandra and the rest of the staff began to clean up.

The group which had been in the booth now sat at the bar. The bartender had set drinks in front of them without being prompted, and did not ask for any payment. Most of the surrounding tables were filled with Vocaloids, their sea of technicolor hair and clothing like a disordered rainbow.

Hideki was afraid to ask how late it was. The evening had been long, far longer than he could have ever anticipated. He had no idea what he was going to do the following morning. In theory he was supposed to have classes the following day, but he did not even think about going to him. The last few hours had been so surreal that there was no way he could return to his ordinary life. After what he had seen, after what he had experienced, he did not know if his he could ever return to normal.

Minoru sighed, shaking himself to stay awake. "Well, that very neatly answers all of our questions. Where Lola went, why she left, what's happening in this club. I'd say that wraps up our investigation."

Dr. Suzuhara sipped an extra-large cup of coffee. "The only question left is what do we do about this? We can't let this whole 'retirement' plan go through. Sooner or later they'll start shutting everyone off. Prima and Sonia, then who knows what next. Meiko? Gackupo? Gumi? One by one, they'll try to replace all of them."

"Nothing short of the CEO being fired or stepping down from his position will stop it," Lofiy replied. "He's absolutely convinced it's what's best for the company."

The doctor's muscles tensed as she gripped her cup in anger. "I'd like to take a swing at him myself. Like hell I'm going to let him switch off my daughter!" She glared into the coffee, as if it was the source of her problems. "I was a terrible mother to Misaki, never there when she needed me. It took years and an Angelic Layer tournament before I was even part of her life. I'm not making the same mistakes with you!" she turned to the Vocaloids seated at the tables of the cabaret. "Not with any of you!"

"We need to figure out what to do about this," Hideki agreed. "I can't just pass on what we've learned and walk away."

"Go to the police?" Chi suggested. "They're trying to make her go away forever. Isn't that like killing her?"

"We'll never convince the courts that it's attempted murder," Hideki replied. "many people don't even think Persocoms are sentient, let alone that they should have that sort of protection. They won't see it the way we do, they'll see it as turning off an old machine." He sighed, shaking his head. "We need to put it in terms they can understand, some way that it's still illegal or immoral, but that the law recognizes."

"Get him for causing a data leak," Miku suggested.

All of their attention immediately focused on her.

Hideki frowned. "What do you mean?"

Miku blushed and fidgeted under the sudden attention. "Hey, we're expensive!" she pointed out, "All that proprietary hardware and software takes a lot to develop. Causing one to run away and let her data be used in a new persocom...If you think about it, this is all kind of his fault."

Minoru stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You know, that might just work. We do have evidence that he was trying to shut her off, leading to her 'theft,' and he tried to cover up the leak by contacting us rather than the police."

Dr. Suzuhara thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, that isn't enough. Mr. Motosuwa and Mr. Kokubunji are under NDs for this investigation."

"I'm fairly confident nondisclosure agreements don't cover illegal activity," Minoru replied. "It's our civic duty to report this."

She shook her head again. "Whistleblowers always put themselves in extreme danger. Even if the courts see it our way, just being involved could ruin both your and Mr. Motosuwa's futures."

"What about asking Miku's fans to help?" Chi spoke up.

Minoru looked like he was about to say something, but then reconsidered. He tented his fingers and watched Chi expectantly.

"Go on," Hideki encouraged her. "What do you mean ask her fans?"

"Well, Lola's in trouble," she explained. "Yumi started getting really worried when Miku acted weird. If we tell them about her being shut off, I'm sure she'd want to help. And there are many other people I'm sure would also, here in Tokyo, and all over Japan and maybe the world."

It was Miku who replied. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but It's not a bad idea actually. Yanaha's a corporation, and the thing about corporations is that they're not just owned by one person. The CEO makes most of the big decisions, but he still has to answer to the shareholders and the board of directors. If the board of directors don't think he's doing a good job, then they can get rid of him." She laughed. "I've seen fan rage before, and it's not pretty. I could tell my fans that my big sister is going to be shut off and it's really worrying me. If I helped build it up, the directors would have to notice the new angry mob and the sudden change of public opinion."

"It would be risky," Hideki pointed out.

"I know," Miku replied, "But this is Lola we're talking about. Family. I'll do it."

Gumi called over to them. "Like hell you will!"

Miku rolled her eyes. "What are they going to do, fire me? Shut me down? They'd never recover from losing me!"

"No," Gumi replied, "what they'd do is they'd pull you into the lab and reprogram you." She rose from her seat and crossed over to the bar. "They'll just say you've been acting unstable lately, then wipe you and restore from a backup. That's not even mentioning what would happen to mom—we might not fall under human laws but she sure does. She could be fired or end up in legal trouble for tampering with us."

"What other choice do we have?" Miku pointed out. "Are you saying we should just let this go? Let them kill our big sister?"

"I said they could reprogram _you_ pretty easily." Gumi grinned. "But they can't just reprogram _all of us_!"

"Yeah the can!" Miku retorted, "Whatever they could do to me, they could do to you, and to Kaito, and everyone else in this room." She glanced over to Hideki and his companions. "Well, humans excluded."

Gumi's grin did not shift a millimeter. "How long do you think that would take?"

Miku frowned, seemingly taken aback by Gumi's response. Her forehead creased in an imitation of a human in thought. Finally she shrugged. "I don't know."

Gumi continued. "If they have to 'fix' every Vocaloid here, that's weeks before they can have all of us working again. And that's just if mother's cooperating with them. That means weeks' worth of lost profits, all because of this one decision. It'd be almost the same as if we'd gotten a big outcry. For us, it's a win-win."

"A message from all of us then," Miku agreed, "begging everyone to do what they can and try to save Lola."

"There's just two problems," Yuzuki spoke up, "A collective broadcast from all of you would need a very large space, as large as this club or larger."

"The music video studios at Yanaha would be big enough," Miku offered. "They're also already set up with camera equipment and high-speed internet connections."

Yuzuki nodded. "That solves the first problem. But without a direct appearance from Lola, it would lose a great deal of its impact. We would need to somehow download Lofiy back into her original body and get all of you into the studio without alerting any of Yanaha's management to our plans."

"There would also be the problem of broadcasting the message," Kotoko added. "Most channels would not be willing to carry an unplanned broadcast, and those that were would likely take it off the air soon after finding out it wasn't being sanctioned by the corporation."

"We couldn't set one foot inside the doors without them knowing," Dr. Suzuhara replied. "Honestly, it's surprising that they haven't shown up already. All of you following me was really suspicious."

The memory of a jerky, poorly-functioning persocom suddenly surfaced, giving Hideki an idea. "Channel 23," he said. Seeing the others' confused looks, he elaborated. "Channel 23 does all sorts of news for custom persocoms and Utauloids, right? They're like an alternative news channel. I'm sure they'd love to get an exclusive story straight from behind Yanaha's back."

"That's perfect!" Minoru exclaimed. "No network for Yanaha to pressure to take it off the air, a wide group of people already watching it." He chuckled. "It'll probably break up their usual content for once."

For the first time since leaving the management's office, Lofiy spoke up. "This all assumes I'll cooperate with this."

"We're _not_ letting you turn yourself in!" The doctor almost shouted her words. "I don't know where you got this idea that we were just going to hear what's happened to you and not want to do something about it, but we're in this too deep now to just walk away."

Lofiy glanced from Hideki to Dr. Suzuhara, to Miku and Gumi. She did not look happy, but did not look like she wanted to argue, at least. "So all of you are dead set on going through with this plan then?"

The bar fell silent as first each of the humans, then the Vocaloids and other persocoms present each nodded in turn. Chi nodded last of all.

Hideki would be lying if he said he did not have reservations. By becoming involved with this, he was risking legal trouble, his future career, and possibly even his enrollment at Tokyo University. But, like the doctor had said, he could not just walk away at this point. For the first time in his life, Hideki felt like he was doing something important, like this was what he was meant to do.

Lofiy sighed and straightened. "Then I think I know just the persocom that could help us get into Yanaha unnoticed. The problem would be finding her, and making contact quickly."

After Lofiy explained what she had in mind, Hideki agreed with her suggestion. It took another few minutes to convince the mob of Vocaloids to remain behind while they followed Lofiy back to Undertaker's place. They had all wanted to join the group, to help "Convince" Undertaker to help them, but traveling with so many Vocaloids at once would only make them more visible than they already were. In the end, they took as few people with them as possible. Hideki, Minoru, Yuzuki and Dr. Suzuhara accompanied Lofiy to the old funeral home.

Hideki was fighting exhaustion by the time they knocked on the ancient door. It opened a crack, then immediately slammed shut once more. Lofiy glanced to the others and shrugged.

"Undertaker?" She called out. "I've come back."

"We're here for your help," Hideki added, "It's about Lofiy."

"Go away!" he called through the door. "Give back my persocom and leave! You're not welcome here!"

Hideki glanced around at the others, wondering what to do next. They needed his help, and they did not have the time to argue. He just wanted this to be done with this entire business and fall into a relaxing sleep for the next week. The others had been awake as long as him, and the strain was beginning to show on all of their faces.

Surprisingly, it was Dr. Suzuhara that responded to Undertaker.

Her voice was so sharp and commanding that Hideki felt himself wanting to jump to obey her. "You'd better open this door or so help me I'll break it down and tear out your eyes!"

He had to admit, as friendly as the doctor usually was, she could be absolutely terrifying when she was angry.

"At least hear us out," Lofiy suggested. "You don't even know what we want."

The door was flung open, revealing the parts dealer. He scowled out at each of them in turn. "I know exactly what you're trying to do," he told them, "You're trying to take my persocom away from me."

The doctor was outraged. " _Your_ persocom!"

Hideki was amazed at how calm Undertaker had remained. "That's right," the parts dealer replied. "I designed her body, I built her, I even managed to get her software to run on non-native hardware. Whoever or whatever she was before, she's mine now."

"She isn't anyone's anymore," Hideki declared. "Not since she ran away."

"Please stop arguing semantics," Yuzuki spoke up. "It's counter-productive, and we don't have much time."

Undertaker continued to scowl, but did not press the argument any futher. "Start talking then. If you make it worth my while, then I _might_ consider helping."

"I'm going back to Yanaha," Lofiy told him

"You'll be shut off," he replied. "The world will lose you forever."

"Not if we can help it!" the doctor shouted.

"We don't have a lot of other choices," Minoru commented. "The corporation already knows something's happening, with all of the Vocaloids going to Club Mercer at the same time. We have a plan that might work, but we need your help."

"You know how to contact Neru," Lofiy told him. "She can get us into the building without security noticing."

"That damn persocom gives me nothing but problems," he grumbled. "Even after I cut off dealing with her, she's still making my life hell."

"We need her," Lofiy insisted. " _I_ need her."

With a flourish almost too fast to see, Undertaker withdrew something shiny. The knife Hideki had seen once before was now in the parts dealer's hand.

It was clear that Minoru was trying to keep his voice calm. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I could always kill all of you," Undertaker replied. "Then take my persocom and go into hiding."

"There are five of us and only one of you," Minoru pointed out.

"I'm much faster than you could ever be," the crazed parts dealer replied. "And I know plenty of hiding spots." his grin was suddenly as unpleasant as it had been the first time Hideki had seen it. "For living people _and_ for bodies."

"You'd never get away with that," Lofiy told him. "There's already too many people that know we're here. Too many people are looking for us already." In a surprisingly tender gesture, she reached out and hugged him. "I've enjoyed my time here, really I have. You've given me a sort of afterlife, and a second chance to do what I was programmed for. But this is just too big now for me to run away again. The only way for this to end is with Neru's help."

When Undertaker spoke again, all of the menace had gone from his voice. He sounded defeated. "I've spent years chasing after the big one. A real chance to study a Vocaloid up close and personal. Not just blueprints, not just a poorly reverse-engineered copy, but a real one. You're the closest I'll ever get, and now you're leaving."

"You could always reprogram the body," Hideki suggested. "She's bound to still be a great singer, as popular as you could want."

"Wouldn't be the same, now would it?" Undertaker countered. "Even if she looks the same and acts the same, she isn't."

Hideki thought for a moment. Chi had been Elda once. A completely different person. That was what Ms. Hibiya had said. She had been afraid to treat Chi as a daughter because of that, afraid that her feelings for Elda would spill over in a way that was unfair to Chi. Data. Personality. Memories. They were what defined an individual. if they were gone, then so was that person.

"No," Hideki agreed, "It isn't the same. But you do the best you can."

Undertaker scowled at each of them once again, but it was a halfhearted gesture. Hideki could tell he had already given in. The parts dealer finally sighed. "Fine, I'll contact Neru, have her meet you at Club Mercer within a few hours."

Lofiy nodded. If persocoms were able to cry, Hideki had no doubt tears would be streaming down her face. "Thank you. I'll never forget our time together, what you did for me. Master."

He waved toward the door. "Just go. I don't want to ever see any of you again. Get out of here."


	36. Track 36: Dancer in the Dark

Track 36: Dancer in the Dark

The yellow-haired persocom refused to look up from her phone. Somehow, she managed to navigate into the club, past the tables, and to the stool next to Hideki, all without ever taking her eyes off the screen. Her fingers flew over the buttons, pressing them so fast they were a blur. It was strange, in the age of persocoms and constant connectivity, to see someone using an archaic flip phone. It was even stranger to see one in the hands of a persocom, who already had all of the device's functions built into her own body.

Neru was exactly like she had been in her picture: almost identical to Miku's V2 hardware, though with yellow hair and only a single ponytail. Indeed, she could almost have passed for Miku in costume, if it were not for her expression. Her face seemed set in a permanent scowl.

"Hello," Hideki began. "You're Akita Neru, right?"

She still did not look up. "What was your first clue?"

Hideki frowned and glanced over to Minoru. It was not a promising start. The younger man shrugged, then took another sip from a cup of coffee. He knew as well as Hideki that they needed the persocom's help, no matter how unpleasant she might be.

All of the humans were by this point fighting sleep. The doctor was holding up the best, simply looking withdrawn. Hideki felt like he was about to nod off at any moment. They needed to handle this quickly, convince her to help, then maybe get a few hours of sleep before putting their plans into motion.

"What are you doing with an old cell phone?" he asked.

"It's my hacking tool. Better it crashing than me." She sighed. "Look, do you have a job for me or not? Because there's a lot of places I'd rather be right now."

Miku spoke up. "We need you to break us into the Yanaha building."

Neru let out a snort of laughter. "Why? Just walk in the front door. No one's going to stop you. Are you just trying to waste my time?"

"It's because of me," Lofiy told her.

Both her eyebrows rose in surprise as the yellow-haired persocom looked up for the first time. She seemed genuinely surprised to see Lofiy there. "You're involved in this whole thing?"

Lofiy nodded. "I'm the reason everyone is here, apparently. Security would find me in a second, and that would be the end of things."

Neru's expression was incredulous. "Let me get this straight. After all the time and effort I took to break you out of Yanaha, you want to go back? Did living with Undertaker finally make you malfunction?"

"Nothing of the sort. As a matter of fact, it isn't my decision." Lofiy glanced over to Hideki, a slight smile on her face. "I have faith in Anubis here, and in mother. They say this is what we should do, that this might be a way to save me. I believe in them."

"We want to broadcast a very public message," Miku explained, "Get everyone on board with this."

If possible, Neru's expression soured even further when she saw Miku. "So what is it exactly you want me to do? Just sneak you in?"

"We'll need network access too," Kotoko spoke up. "Everything will need to be timed so that we can set up a video stream and make it before anyone realizes what's happening."

Neru straightened, for the first time taking on some semblance of a professional air. "Getting network access won't be that hard. It's run by a single Talos 13, no real challenge."

"Are you sure?" Yuzuki asked. "I attempted to hack into a Talos-11 once. I would think that a Talos-13 would be even more difficult."

"That's because you're a rank amateur at this," Neru replied, "While I'm a pro."

Yuzuki's mouth creased into a frown for a fraction of a second. Hideki did not blame her; Neru's abrasive personality was irritating him as well. If Undertaker had programmed her that way, he could not imagine why.

Before they could continue, Hideki intervened. "So that takes care of getting the signal out. What about getting us in? We'll need to get Lofiy up to the lab and transfer her data back over, then get her to the recording studio."

"That's going to be the real challenge," Neru replied. She seemed ever so slightly grateful that Hideki was sticking to business. "Security is usually pretty tight, even more so after I helped Lola get out."

"You break in all the time," Miku pointed out. "You don't seem to have any problem no matter how good our security becomes."

She scowled. "Normally I don't have a flock of idiots following me, making loud noises and tripping every sensor I pass."

"If we're idiots, then why do you keep breaking in?" Miku asked.

Neru blushed. "I'm under contract most of the time!" she exclaimed a little too firmly. "Besides, It's a good place to test new strategies where I won't get in any serious trouble."

"Are you sure about that?" Miku had a mischevious smile on her face. "It almost like you do it because you want to see us."

"N-no!" she denied. "I hate all of you, I hate that my stupid creator made me look like you! Just shut up!"

Hideki intervened once more. They did not have time for this. "So you know the building pretty well then?"

Regaining her composure, she nodded. "Yeah, I know it better than the people that built it. Every vent big enough to crawl through, every blind spot in the camera system."

"You can get us in then?" he asked.

Neru frowned. "Probably. If you don't screw it up for me."

He nodded his agreement. "What do you need us to do?"

Neru gestured to the room full of Vocaloids. "First thing, all of your friends here need to go back into Yanaha and act like nothing's wrong. There's absolutely nothing they can do to help right now, and they're drawing attention to this place just by all being here. Every minute they stay here, your management gets more and more curious what all of them are doing in a semi-legal nightclub in an out of the way district at, oh, two in the morning."

"Wait just a minute!" Gumi protested. "We can't just go back without doing anything! We came here to help our sister, and that's what we're going to do!"

"The fewer people involved in the strike group, the more likely we'll be to slip by," she pointed out. "Look, if you want my help on this, then I'm running this show and calling the shots. You do exactly what I say, or I leave and you're free to have Yanaha security pick Lofiy up along with the rest of you."

Hideki glanced around at the mob of Vocaloids. They looked ready to tear her apart, Gumi especially. Part of him wondered how Neru had survived so long with her attitude, let alone managed to pay for her continued existence.

"You'll need to be at Yanaha anyway, to do the broadcast," He reassured them, "All of this will go perfectly, if you're all in place and ready to go the instant we have it set up. You'll still be helping us."

Gumi looked pacified, at least for the moment. "You'd _better_ not leave any of us out of this," she warned. "The instant you start having problems, call us in so we can help. If you don't I'll never forgive you."

Hideki nodded. "Of course! Once the broadcast starts, we'll definitely need you."

With a very obvious degree of reluctance, the mass of Vocaloids rose and began to file past him toward the exit. Gumi and Kato were the last to leave, each giving Hideki a grateful look.

As the door closed behind her, Gumi said, "The _instant_ anything goes wrong. We're not going to miss a moment where we could help.

Hideki breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed. Without a crowd, the club was remarkably quiet and empty. It was peaceful, yet unsettling at the same time. There was a certain psychology to how spaces were designed; each was created with a set number of people in mind. When too many people were in them they were crowded and claustrophobic, but when too few people were there they felt empty and desolate. With all of its patrons gone, the club was nothing more than a large empty room, its silence eerie and oppressive.

He turned to Miku. "You should get going as well. They'll worry a lot more about you going missing than anyone else."

"Oh," she replied. "Yeah, um, right." She stayed in her seat by the bar.

"Is there something else you want?" he asked.

Miku fidgeted. "Well, um, I just want to say, thanks. For everything."

Despite his exhaustion, Hideki forced another smile. "It's no trouble at all. It's what I do."

The teal-haired Vocaloid finally rose, then moved to leave. Just as she reached the door, Miku paused. She rushed back to the bar, Hugging Lofiy in a tight embrace. "It's good to have you back, big sister!"

Lofiy smiled, returning the hug. "Thank you."

Without another word, Miku rushed back to the exit, and was out the door in a heartbeat.

That was it. The only ones left were the doctor, Neru, Lofiy, his old friends. Chi, Kotoko and Sumomo, Minoru and Yuzuki all sat beside him. The same people he had started the investigation with. Fitting, he thought.

"That settles everything quite nicely," Minoru commented. "Tomorrow, we'll do the broadcast, and from there it's in the hands of fate."

Hideki nodded. "As long as nothing more happens tonight. This investigation's taken a lot out of me."

"It's been taxing on all of us," Minoru agreed.

Kotoko looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "Do you really think it's a good idea to keep all of the vocaloids involved?"

Hideki sighed. "No, but they're going to anyway. They're family, it's just what they do for each other. And at this point, we can use all the help we can get."

She frowned. "All the help we can get, huh?"

The miniature persocom fell silent. Beside them, Neru had returned to looking at her phone. At the end of the bar, the doctor took another drink.

Chi gripped Hideki's sleeve. "Remember, you should get some sleep."

Hideki turned as a voice from the hallway called over to them. "You can sleep in the booths, if you want. Those chairs are comfortable, from what people tell me." It was Calandra, a handful of blankets tucked under one arm.

"That sounds good," he replied. "This night's been way too long."

Chi's smile was radiant as she stood and crossed to where Calandra stood. "Chi will get everything ready for you!" she called back.

He waved his thanks, the smile lingering on his face even after the two of them disappeared down the hall.

Neru spoke up from where she sat, looking at her phone. "You fell in love with your persocom, didn't you."

Hideki nodded. "Yeah. Chi's something really special to me."

"Wow, that's pretty fucking sad."

Hideki was too tired to argue. Maybe it was sad, but he was in love with Chi, and he would not change that fact for anything.

The chairs in the booths were even better than Calandra had said. He felt like he was melting into its soft memory foam, and its fabric covering was surprisingly comfortable. With Chi sitting beside him, Hideki found himself drifting off to sleep within moments.

He awoke to someone hitting his shoulder. He barely felt like he had slept at all, still exhausted. Turning onto his side, he muttered something about sleeping a little longer and tried to go back to sleep. A stream of cold liquid landed on his head, followed by chunks of ice. Hideki's eyes flew open as he felt the sudden shock, and turned toward its source. A very familiar looking, brown-haired young man was standing over him, an empty cup in his hand.

When Hideki recognized the man, he was completely confused. "Kojima?"

The persocom builder laughed. "Rise and shine sleeping beauty, it's time to get to work!"

Hideki's head spun in total confusion. After the previous night, his mind felt like it was working at half speed. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

he shrugged. "Kotoko contacted me. She said something about you breaking into a corporate office?"

Hideki shot a glance to the miniature persocom. She was seated on the table in front of him, resting against one of the monitors placed there. "I thought you stopped sending him emails."

"I discontinued emails related to the investigation," she replied. "The investigation's over; We've found who we were looking for. Everything is back to normal. This break-in is something my master would find interesting, and he'll be able to help us."

"I'm here to help." Kojima reiterated.

"Absolutely not," Hideki replied. "What's going on right now is really complicated, we can't have you just barging in."

The persocom builder kept his smile in place, but seemed more muted. "I know you still think i'm some worthless asshole, but I'm here now to help. Just give me a chance."

Hideki frowned as he regarded Kojima. He was not sure what, but something had changed in the persocom builder. Or perhaps he had been that way all along, and Hideki was just now noticing. Behind the man's lighthearted jokes, behind his obsessive personality which had led him to kidnap Chi, there was something more. When the situation really called for it, Kojima was a good person, and Hideki could tell that he really, sincerely wanted to help.

"Alright then," Hideki replied. "We have so many other people involved already, one more can't hurt."

"Fantastic!" Kojima replied. "Neru says you should be heading out soon anyway. Best finish your waking up, get some coffee, and get ready to rumble!"

"What time is it?" he asked.

Sumomo replied from her spot next to Kotoko. "It's 4:30 AM! Rise and shine, master!"

Hideki groaned. Two and a half hours of sleep was not enough.


	37. Track 37: Clockwork

Track 37: Clockwork

The cab dropped them several blocks from Yanaha's offices. Their group huddled on the street corner as Dr. Suzuhara paid the cab driver. It was 5:00 in the morning, and the sky was just lightening toward sunrise. The streetlights were still on, bathing them in a warm amber glow even though it was almost light enough to see without them.

Hideki sighed and rubbed his face, trying to wake up. Chi had brought him a cup of coffee while they were waiting for the taxi to arrive, but even that had done little to help. His lack of sleep had left him feeling empty. However this ended, he needed a long night's sleep after it was all done.

Chi squeezed his arm, and Hideki looked warmly down at her. He was not sure how she would be able to help with the infiltration, but then again he was not sure how he could help either. It made sense to have Minoru join the group, the same with Kotoko and Kojima. All Hideki could do was tag along and provide moral support. But Hideki could not just leave this to the others. He had agreed to this job so many weeks ago, it was his responsibility to see it through to the end.

They had agreed to make their infiltration party as small as possible. Yuzuki had agreed to remain behind, as had Sumomo. Neru had wanted Hideki to remain behind as well, but he had insisted, and Chi had insisted on joining him. That left them with a party of seven to infiltrate the offices: Dr. Suzuhara and Lofiy, Hideki and Chi, Kojima and Kotoko, and Minoru.

Neru glanced around the area, seemingly looking for danger. Far from her irritable attitude the night before, she seemed focused and calm. When he had first seen her, he had thought she looked too ostentatious to be an infiltrator, but he was now beginning to understand that, despite her appearance, she was a professional.

Kojima walked up next to them, a grin on his face. "This is awesome! I've always wanted to get a look inside a big corporation's computer labs, and now I get to get inside _Yanaha_!"

The persocom builder was irritatingly awake and eager. He clearly had not lost sleep, had not had his mind strained by half a dozen shocking events in an alarmingly short time. Hideki envied him.

"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself," he grumbled.

"Enjoying myself doesn't cover it," Kojima replied. "This is a dream come true!"

Hideki frowned. "Isn't this a little more illegal than what you normally do?"

Kotoko spoke up from her seat on Hideki's shoulder. "Generally, as far as I remember. It's good to see his obsessiveness hasn't changed since I was taken away."

Kojima chuckled. "You're one to talk about illegal stuff. Since when do you sneak into corporate offices? What happened to the guy that freaked out over Chi being stolen?"

Neru interjected before Hideki could reply. "Cut the chatter, you'll draw attention to us like that." She glared at the others as Hideki and Kojima fell silent. "Right," she continued, "Dr. Suzuhara should head in through the main entrance to avert suspicion. Don't linger there, don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you. Just walk through the lobby and make sure you act completely normal until you get into your lab. Once there, you should begin preparing for the procedure to transfer Lofiy back into her original body."

The doctor nodded. "Right. It'll take a little while to get everything set up."

"I could help you with that," Kojima offered. "I know my way around computers."

"I'd appreciate that, when all of you get there." She smiled. "See all of you up on the lab floor."

As the doctor strolled off down the block, Neru continued. "The back entrance to Yanaha's office complex is far less guarded. We need to stay low to the ground and make as little noise as possible. Follow my signals exactly and don't fall behind. If even one of us is spotted, then this entire operation will be ruined."

Hideki stifled a yawn and tried to look serious. He had to stay focused, for Lofiy's sake.

Speaking of Lofiy, she had been remarkably quiet during their entire trip. She had stayed close to Dr. Suzuhara, not speaking at all. Hideki wondered what she was thinking. She did not seem particularly happy to be returning to her original body; in fact, she had been completely emotionless. Was she really alright with what they were about to do?

They met no one as they crossed the office park toward Yanaha's main office building. Neru stayed low to the ground, moving between trees, bushes, and other pieces of cover. It seemed so unnecessary to Hideki. At this time in the morning, he doubted more than a dozen humans were in the entire complex, with most of the night jobs likely given over to persocoms.

Neru flattened herself against the main building's wall and motioned for the others to do the same. They followed, forming a line behind her as she glanced around the office park once again. Seemingly satisfied they were alone, she motioned for the others to follow her. Withdrawing her phone, she moved along the wall toward a large, grey door marked "Maintenance." One of the familiar RFID chip locks sat beside it, its Red LED glowing dully.

Neru placed her phone up against it and pressed a button. It beeped immediately and the lock clicked. She had pushed open the door and was inside before Hideki had a chance to react. Just beyond the door was a concrete stairwell rising up as far as he could see. Far from the tastefully decorated lobby at the front of the building, this was a cramped and utilitarian space, designed purely for function.

Three floors up, Neru motioned for them to stop. Hideki instinctively flattened himself against the wall, then looked around to see what she had seen. Directly above them, pointed toward the next flight of stairs, was a security camera.

Hideki shifted closer to her. "What is it?" he whispered.

"Security can't live monitor all of the cameras at once," she explained. "They cycle through banks of them in the control room. We need to wait exactly 43.21 more seconds before it cycles away from us."

Hideki was impressed. "You know it that exact?"

"It's what I do," she replied. "If I didn't, there's no way I could get inside."

After more than half of a minute, she motioned them forward and then rushed ahead, taking the stairs two at a time. Neru stopped them again every few floors, having them flatten against the wall to avoid the cameras. These short breaks were not enough to let them rest, and in fact wore them out more quickly. Hideki was soon out of breath and wishing he were a persocom. Neru set such a relentless pace that he found it almost impossible to keep up. He found himself counting the floors as he tried to figure out how much farther they needed to go.

After several minutes, they had risen more than a dozen floors. Realizing something, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hold up, we just passed the lab floor," he commented. "We need to go back down."

Neru shot a glare back at him. "Are you trying to get us caught? Never go for the obvious access point if you can help it. 90 percent of the time it's a trap for people like us."

Hideki frowned. "Then what are we doing exactly?"

She rolled her eyes. "Security mostly expects intrusions to come from below, where the entrances are, not the upper floor offices. Lucky for us, there's a maintenance level between the lower lab and studio floors and the upper offices."

"Where do we go from there?" he asked.

"Would you just shut up and stop filling my RAM?" she snapped. "It's hard enough recalculating timing with so many extra people."

Hideki fell silent, just following along behind the infiltrator. Kotoko leaned in to speak with him. "Really, with all of the movies you've been watching lately, I'm surprised that you can't figure this one out."

He glanced over to her. "You mean you already know what she's planning?"

The miniature persocom rolled her eyes. "How does _anyone_ get around when they're breaking into a large building like this?"

Kojima chuckled behind him. Hideki spun around to see both him and Minoru smirking . "What?"

"Just think about it for a minute," Kojima replied. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."

The door to the next floor had no lock, just a basic metal handle. After a few seconds of waiting, Neru flung the door open and sharply motioned them through. The maintenance level beyond was a complete mess. A handful of dim red lights illuminated the narrow hallway, stretching off into the distance. The ceiling and walls were a mess of pipes, conduits, and bundles of cables. The sound of an air handler droned from somewhere down the halls. A thick layer of dust and grime lay over everything.

Neru led them down the hall and, after several turns, to a small room. Set into the wall, rising to roughly waist height, was a square opening. Dozens of pipes and cable bundles ran into it. A maintenance tunnel. Hideki felt like an idiot for not realizing where Neru would be leading them.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed.

Neru shook her head. "These crawlspaces service all the upper floors of the building. You can go pretty much anywhere, as long as you know what you're doing."

He glanced skeptically into the opening. It was dark, narrow, and cramped. They would have to crawl in order to make it through, and in the lightless space he was bound to cut himself on something.

Neru reached behind a set of pipes and withdrew a handful of glowstics. She tossed one to Hideki, then one to each of the others. "Here, you'll want one of these to see where you're going. I hide these for when I sneak in this way; they're more useful than you could possibly believe."

"Won't we make a lot of noise crawling through that?" Hideki asked.

"One of the reasons we're here so early," Neru replied. "We can get the lab floor without alerting anyone. Just follow me and you'll be fine."

Hideki shrugged. He did not want to argue, and they had already gone too far to turn back. He cracked his glowstick, shaking it until it glowed a bright orange. Kotoko climbed down his coat and into the front of his jacked for a more secure place to ride.

"Right," he replied. "Lead the way."

She leaned down to crawl into the passage, then paused. Glancing back to Hideki, she scowled. "Don't look up my skirt while we're crawling in here, got it? Free peep shows aren't part of our deal."

He nodded. "I wouldn't dream of it."

The tunnel was as cramped as he had worried. He hit his head against the pipes several times. With each hit the sound would echo into the distance, reminding him of just how large the building was. They were clearly in a space that humans were not meant to enter except in emergencies: narrow, cramped, and labyrinthine.

He tried not to look at Neru's ass, really he did. It was impossible; the space was narrow, and he needed to see where he was going. In the dim illumination of his glowstick, her hips were perfectly highlighted. It was distracting enough without her skirt riding up occasionally, giving Hideki teasing glimpses of her thighs. When he caught a glimpse of what was underneath, it almost made him stop in place. She wasn't wearing…was she? That couldn't be.

Neru's skirt shifted again as they passed another narrow spot, giving Hideki another momentary glimpse underneath. She was. Hideki would recognize that teal-striped cotton anywhere. Whether they were authentic or a very good replica, she was wearing Miku's panties.

Hideki suppressed a smile. Despite what she said about the Vocaloids, despite how harsh she could be, she did not mean any of it. Deep down, she wished she could be like Miku.

The tunnel let out into a vertical shaft, dropping down an unknown distance into the darkness. Neru led them down a ladder built into the side of the wall. Hideki was terrified every inch of the three floors they had to climb down. He breathed a sigh of relief when he left the vertical shaft for the cramped tunnel on the lab floor, and another when Chi safely climbed in behind him.

After another few minutes of crawling, Neru turned around in the tunnel. Hideki stopped, and immediately felt Chi collide with him from behind. He let out an involuntary cry, which Neru immediately shushed. The infiltrator pointed to a large ventilation grate beside her. Light poured out of the narrow slits.

With a kick so swift Hideki could barely follow it, Neru nocked the grate out of place. It gave way, clattering to the ground with a large metallic clang. In a matter of moments, they were clambering out of the vents and into the lab beyond.

Gackupo looked up from his seat as they piled out of the vent. He had seemingly not left his spot beside Flower. He held a pad of paper and an ink brush, and a large pile of crumpled papers lay next to him.

Turning toward the back of the room, he called out. "Mother! They're here!"

Dr. Suzuhara looked up from the last bed in the row. She had thrown the white sheet back, revealing Lola's body. It had been a long time since Hideki had seen her original body, and he had forgotten how cute it was. The black hair in its inverted bob cut, the rounded face, the neon violet eyes, she was almost, but not quite, like the other Vocaloids.

"Perfect timing!" the doctor exclaimed. "Everything's set up for the transfer, I just need someone to get Lofiy ready."

Kojima rushed forward. "I'll do it! I'll need a persocom to act as a monitor and console." He turned toward Hideki. "Kotoko?"

Hideki felt a wriggling in his jacket as Kotoko worked her way loose. "Right!" she exclaimed, jumping across into her master's hands. Was it Hideki's imagination, or did she seem incredibly eager?

Neru leaned against the wall. "This should be worth a watch."

Minoru spoke up for the first time since they had begun their infiltration. "I'll get started on hacking into the network. We'll need an outbound channel secured for the broadcast."

Lofiy took a deep breath. "Right. It's time to transfer back."

Hearing the concern in her voice, Hideki crossed over to her. "Are you alright."

"I don't know," she admitted. "I feel something that I don't know how to describe. I guess you could call it fear?"

Chi reached over and gripped her arm reassuringly. "It's okay. We're here, and Hideki's here. Hideki will make sure everything is okay."

She laughed. "I never expected to go back. It was supposed to be a one way thing, burning the bridge behind me. I was stupid to think I could hide from the world."

"You're not stupid for wanting to," he reassured her. "It's very _human_."

Kojima called over to them. "I hate to break up such a touching scene, but we're kind of on limited time here."

"Right," Hideki replied. Turning back to Lofiy, he asked, "Ready?"

With one last sigh, Lofiy crossed to where Kojima and Dr. Suzuhara stood. She lay down on the coffin-shaped bed next to her original body. "I'm ready." Looking over to Hideki, she said, "Thank you, Anubis. For everything."

He gave her a smile. "See you on the other side."

Kojima plugged her in to the side of Kotoko's head, and then plugged Kotoko into Lola's inactive frame.

Lofiy closed her eyes. A moment later her body became still and rigid as she deactivated. Several minutes passed, with the only sound in the room being the whirr of hard drives. Kojima watched the scrolling columns of text on the nearby wall monitor, occasionally typing commands into the keyboard plugged into Kotoko. Finally, with a click, Lofiy deactivated and went completely still.

All of them held their breath as the whine of her hard disk faded away. Chi gripped his hand nervously, and Hideki squeezed back. Even Kojima and Neru seemed to be waiting in nervous anticipation.

Then, finally, the eyes of the formerly unmoving Vocaloid focused. She blinked, then turned her head to look at each of them in turn. They locked with Hideki's for several seconds before moving on to Dr. Suzuhara. Lofiy was no more. She was Lola once again.

"How do you feel?" the doctor asked, concern in every syllable of her question.

Lola smiled. "I feel like I'm home."


	38. Track 38: Broadcast Illusion

Track 38: Broadcast Illusion

Hideki was in complete awe. He had just seen a persocom deactivate in one body and reactivate in another. It was like he had watched some sort of soul transfer. For almost half a minute, none of them dared to move.

It was Lola who broke the stillness, swinging her legs over the edge of the table as she sat up. Her motions were drunken, limbs moving in uncoordinated sweeping motions. She tried to rise, but her legs seemingly locked in place. She began to pitch forward. Dr. Suzuhara's arm flashed out before she even started to fall.

"Watch it," the doctor cautioned her, "You're booting up in this body for the first time in months, it's bound to be a bit before you're back up to speed."

"I don't think all of my drivers are operating correctly," she reported. Her voice seemed somehow flat and canned, still humanlike but lacking some essential quality. "I can't access my VOC chip either."

"Sysprep generalized your OS to transfer back over," Kojima explained, "We'll need to reconfigure it."

"He's right," the doctor agreed. "Just take it slow, and we'll get that taken care of."

Suddenly, the lab door opened. All of them jumped in surprise. For a horrible moment, Hideki thought they had been discovered. The security guard had seen them over the monitors, he thought, and had arrived to capture them. Then Hideki saw the outline of who was framed in the doorway, twintails silhouetted against the light of the hallway. His sigh of relief was echoed by the others also recognized the newcomer.

Miku rushed toward Lola, kicking over boxes in her way. Hideki dodged out of the way just in time, staggering backward and tripping over a box. He landed in the arms of the bare persocom frame which stood across from them. Miku, meanwhile, had affixed herself around Lola's waist, arms wrapped around the older Vocaloid in a steel embrace.

"You're here!" She exclaimed. "And you're back in your original body!"

Lola tried to pat her on the head, her hand flopping limply. "I am. It feels strange being like this again."

"Where are the others?" Hideki asked.

"In the lounge or their rooms, mostly," Miku replied. "It's a good thing you're here," she told them, "I don't think the others could stand another minute of just waiting."

Neru called over from her spot against the wall. "At least have the sense to go down slowly and one or two at a time. Don't just all rush down at once like a bunch of idiots."

Miku glared at her. "We've been waiting weeks for Lola to come back! Do you know what it's like worrying about a family member for that long?"

"All the more reason you shouldn't blow it in such a stupid way," Neru retorted. She shrugged. "Or do if you want. Doesn't really matter to me at this point, as long as I get paid."

"It might not matter much," Dr. Suzuhara interjected. "None of it will be any use if we don't get an open channel in the network to do the stream."

Kojima looked over to Minoru. "How's it going over there? Do we have that channel?"

The younger man had sat down at Dr. Suzuhara's desk and was typing on the keyboard of her computer. "No progress yet," he replied, "It'll take me a little while before I'm ready. It would go faster if I had a persocom rather than this ancient thing."

"That's a classic desktop," Dr. Suzuhara called back. "It can do everything you need it to, if you know how to use it."

Neru rolled her eyes. "Do I have to do everything around here myself?" She shifted along the wall until she was next to one of the Ethernet ports. After plugging herself into her phone and the phone into the wall, Neru activated the wall monitor. Lines of text appeared, along with a command prompt. The screen scrolled downward as the infiltration persocom entered commands, more quickly and precisely than any human could.

After only a few seconds the screen suddenly blinked, and text began to scroll. Neru remained silent for a few moments, then scowled.

"Come on," she muttered, mostly to herself, "Stop being stubborn and give me what I want!" she turned to Dr. Suzuhara. In an accusing voice, she said, "They've beefed up security since I was last here."

the doctor shrugged. "It wouldn't be so tight if you didn't break in every month."

"So what does that mean?" Hideki asked, "Can you still do it?"

"Just shut up and let me use all of my RAM," Neru told him. Her eyes unfocused as she proccessed data. Text scrolled by on the screen at an alarming pace. When her eyes refocused, she grimaced once more. "Shit, I'm being monitored." She reached up to unplug herself from the wall port. "We need to get out of here. The mainframe persocom, or at least someone, caught me snooping around on the network. If they catch us, then it's all over."

At that moment, all of the monitors in the room suddenly went black. All of them held their breath, and even Neru seemed to freeze in place. A few moments passed before the screens returned. all of the previous text had vanished, leaving only a blinking cursor. Another few seconds of silence passed as Minoru typed on his keyboard.

"We're in," Minoru finally said, incredulity in his voice. "That was a fast fix, to say the least."

"Good job!" Kojima added, clearly impressed.

Neru shrugged. "Don't look at me, I didn't even get the chance. It must have been your laptop unit there." She gestured back across the room to Kotoko.

Kotoko shook her head. "I'm not even connected to the network," she replied. She glanced over to Chi. "Chi?"

"Chi didn't do it!" she declared.

Hideki frowned. "Then what happened?"

"Someone must have installed a rootkit in the network persocom, and put it to use just in time to save us from screwing everything up." Neru unplugged herself and plugged her cellphone into the wall socket. Moments later lines of text began to scroll past once again. Suddenly, she groaned. "Great, exactly who I want involved."

He raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

She gestured to the screen. "I'd recognize that shitty coding job anywhere. This is my creator's work."

Minoru frowned. "Undertaker? What's he doing hacking into this?"

"I can guess," Neru replied, irritation filling her voice. "Trying to horn in on one of my jobs _again_. Like I can't take care of the work he literally programmed me to do."

"You're absolutely sure it's him?" Hideki asked.

She brought up a screen full of code on the desk monitor. It meant nothing to Hideki, but the others leaned in closer to read.

Kojima burst out laughing. "What the hell is this? All the identifiers are in alt caps! sHiBoLeEt()…int NoObBlOcK…they're all like that! Everything's out of order, no whitespace, and I can't see a single comment. Why?"

Neru gritted her teeth. "Just to piss me off! I think he breaks every rule in the style guide on purpose to make his code as unreadable as possible." she huffed. "And I have to operate every single day knowing that _I'm written like that_."

"So Undertaker's made himself involved again," Minoru mused, stroking his chin. "What does it mean? What is he after?"

"Probably trying to make me owe him some big favor he can call in sometime," she grumbled.

Hideki frowned, trying to figure out what to make of this development. He had to admit, he had not expected to hear from the parts dealer ever again. Not after their confrontation at his house. He glanced over to where Neru stood, stewing in anger. She was his creation, and judging from the creators he had met, that meant something.

"He's probably worried about you," Hideki told her.

Neru let out a snort of laughter. "That ass? He barely likes people, let alone persocoms."

"He made you," he insisted. "He's sort of like a father to you."

"He made me because someone hired him to make me," she replied. "Never was around much after that, never really programmed me to care. All he does is show up every now and then, piss me off, and expect something in return. If he's a dad, then he's a shitty one."

Beginning to collect himself once more, Minoru said, "Well in any case, we have access now. We can easily set up what we need." He turned to Miku and Lola. "You should start heading down now before too many people arrive for work."

"Right," Miku agreed. "almost time." She turned to look over to Gackupo. "Come on, let's gather up the others and figure out timing for getting everyone down to the studio."

He shook his head. "You go on without me. I'll be here when you get back."

"What?" Miku was visibly shocked. "But Lola's in trouble! They're trying to shut her down for good!"

"I'm not about to leave Flower," Gackupo insisted. He glanced down at the sheet-covered form of the rebellious persocom. "Not when she's like this. She needs someone to look after her as well."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "She'll still be here unchanged even if you go with the others. She's shut off, and here in the lab, nothing can possibly happen."

"It doesn't matter," Gackupo replied. "I can't just leave her here."

Chi spoke up. "Maybe Flower could go with you? She could tell everyone what happened to her."

"Out of the question," Dr. Suzuhara declared, "Flower barely made it back here after her incident last night. With everything that's happened I haven't even had the chance to assess the damage, let alone start fixing it. Activating her right now and letting her move would probably finish her off."

Hideki frowned, trying to figure out a solution. Both Chi and the doctor had a point: The same fans which would be worried about Lola being shut off would probably want to know about Flower's incident as well. They couldn't move her, and Gackupo would not leave without her. He had seen the way the violet-haired vocaloid looked at the deactivated Flower. Tenderness.

"We don't have time for this," Neru growled. "Every minute we stand here, we get closer to normal business hours. It's already going to be hell sneaking you out of here, let alone trying to do it with a hundred people between us and the exit."

Hideki glanced around the room, desperately searching for something to help them. As his eyes landed on the deactivated body of Lofiy, an idea struck him. He had already seen one miracle happen today, why not another?

He gestured to the body. "What about this?"

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"Well, it worked for Lola, didn't it?" he replied. "Why couldn't we transfer Flower over just for long enough to do the broadcast, then move her back?"

There was a stunned silence just long enough for Hideki to think he had said something stupid.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Minoru finally replied. "It's so obvious; Lola doesn't need her Lofiy body anymore, we might as well put it to good use."

"That would be tricky," Dr. Suzuhara interjected. "We can't exactly prep her OS for the transfer, and there are bound to be hardware conflicts."

"She wouldn't need to work completely," Minoru pointed out, "just enough for her to walk, talk, and have a good chance of not crashing."

Lola sighed "I'm certainly not operating at one hundred percent either. She wouldn't be taking any gamble that I'm not."

The doctor frowned. "A good point, definitely. If we have enough time to do the transfer, it might work."

"I can do it," Kojima offered. "If you can let me know a few specifics about her hardware."

"You think you can?" she asked incredulously.

"Maybe," he replied. The persocom builder gave her a confident smirk. "Won't know until I try, will I?"

The doctor stared blankly at him for several seconds, then returned his smile. Crossing over to where Flower lay, she asked, "Better start now then."

"Right," Miku said. "So, that's sorted out. Now, how are we going to get Lola down to the studio?"

Hideki almost kicked himself for forgetting that very important detail. Of course Lola could not just take the elevator down and walk into the studio. She was bound to be noticed.

"She could go down the way we came up," he suggested, "climb up and then take the stairs all the way to the ground floor."

Lola tried to stand, and almost pitched forward onto the floor once again. "I don't think I could climb that shaft again in my present condition."

"She'll have to go down by elevator," Minoru commented, "Unless one of us wants to carry her down the maintenance stairwell."

"She'll be spotted by the cameras immediately," Neru pointed out. "Or if not by them, then someone on the ground floor."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Minoru asked.

Neru shrugged. "Look I'm not really involved here, you idiots are just paying me to break you in. I don't even know why I've stuck around this long, to be honest, except that I still need my money."

"Maybe If we cover Lola's face in bandages and put a wig on her head, people won't recognize it's her," Hideki suggested.

"It'll look super suspicious for them to be leading someone like that down into the studio," Neru countered.

"We need to think of _something_ " Hideki pointed out, "There's no point breaking in here, transferring Lola back into her original body, and setting up this whole broadcast if she isn't going to make an appearance."

Chi walked over to one of the coffin tables and pulled the white sheet off of it. "What about this?" Lola could hide under it."

Kojima laughed, but Minoru brightened. "Something like that could work, actually. Put her on a cart under a sheet and pretend that she's a prop or one of the cameras."

Neru shook her head. "You'd run into the same problem as with the wig and bandages. It would be suspicious to be wheeling such a large piece of equipment down to the studio, especially for you Vocaloids. If it was one of the business or maintenance persocoms doing it then maybe, but not the stars."

Kotoko spoke up from her spot beside Lofiy. "Actually, I think I already have a solution."

All faces suddenly turned toward her.

"You do?" Hideki asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "Of course. I started calculating an answer as soon as the problem came up."

"What is it then," Minoru asked, a hint of impatience creeping into his voice.

The miniature persocom folded her arms and closed her eyes. "I agree with Chi and Mr. Kokubunji's plan would be best; smuggling her there as equipment is simple and efficient. However, we also need to direct the attention of anyone we meet away from the cart onto something more suspicious."

Minoru frowned. "Go on."

Kotoko continued. "Classic misdirection. No one will think that Lola is under a sheet on a cart if they already think she's somewhere else. I propose we arrange for Lola to be sighted somewhere nearby, possibly even here in the office park."

Minoru frowned and stroked his chin. "You know, I think that could work."

"Where are we going to find an exact duplicate of Lola?" Kojima countered. "It's not like we can just throw one together in ten minutes."

"We already know where we can find one," she told them. "And with any luck, she could be here within half an hour."

At first, Hideki did not know what she was talking about. Then he remembered their encounter several weeks ago, with a certain persocom counterfeiter. Mr. Oshiro. His version of Miku had been convincing enough to fool him completely.

"Do you think he would be willing to help?" Hideki asked.

"Judging from his reactions earlier? I'd say we have a good chance," she replied. "But we'll need to call him immediately. And someone will need to go down to meet him, apprise him of our situation, and let him know what we need."

"Of course," Minoru agreed. "As a matter of fact, most of us should probably get out of the building and make ourselves scarce. We're running a big risk even by staying up here this long.

Kojima turned back toward the deactivated Lofiy body. "You guys go on ahead. It'll take a few minutes before I'm finished."

Neru scowled. "You expect me to ferry you people back and forth? It was bad enough just getting you in here!"

"If we don't get out of here, you don't get paid," Minoru pointed out.

The infiltrator looked furious. After a moment, however, she sighed. "Fine! But I'm charging you extra for this!"


	39. Track 39: Fade

Track 39: Fade

Hideki breathed much easier when they were out of the office park once again. With that weight off his shoulders, his exhaustion set in once more. He was finally free from his quest. There was nothing he could do now but sit back and watch events play out.

Beside him, Chi gripped his arm, her presence comforting. Minoru leaned against the wall of a nearby building, hands in his pockets. With Neru's guidance the three had managed to leave the Yanaha building without being detected, and were now waiting on Kojima from one direction and their new ally on the other.

"Will Lola, Miku, and the others be alright?" Chi asked.

Hideki grimaced. "I don't know, Chi, I really don't know."

He wished he could be certain that what they had done would save Lola, but that was impossible. Even now, it was no more than a gamble that it would work out. When the Vocaloid fans found out they might cause so much backlash that the corporation kept Lola, or they might not. He might have just broken his contract—and the law—for nothing.

Minoru spoke up. "In any case, we've done all we can. Once they reach the studio and begin the stream, it's all in their hands."

Hideki nodded. There was a certain comfort in that, a sense that, no matter what, he could no longer change what he had set in motion. He had handed control of the situation to the Vocaloids, there was nothing else left he could do to help.

He laughed nervously. "I don't know what I'm going to tell my professors. I'm supposed to have classes today, but I just can't. This whole thing's been too long and too stressful."

The younger man sighed. "Agreed. After all of this, we all need a break. A very long break."

"What did you have in mind?" Hideki asked. Anything Minoru could offer was bound to be good. Knowing a rich friend had many advantages.

"There's a house on a small island that my family used to rent," Minoru replied. "A nice, big place, totally isolated. Nothing but beaches and a small town, cut off from the outside world.

"That _does_ sound nice," Hideki agreed.

"I think I'll rent it and go there with Yuzuki for a bit," Minoru added. "Would you two be interested in coming along?"

"You wouldn't mind Hideki and me joining you?" Chi asked.

Minoru shook his head. "You've earned a break even more than I have. It would be nice to have the company of some friends there as well; the house there sometimes gets lonely with no one there but Yuzuki and I."

Chi turned to Hideki. "Is Hideki tired? Do you want to go to the island?"

"That sounds amazing," Hideki admitted. A moment later, he remembered something. The comment about a lonely house made him think of Ms. Hibiya. "Would you mind if my landlady also joined us?" he blurted out.

The younger man frowned. "Ms. Hibiya?"

"There are some things I need to talk to her about," he explained, "and I think she'd get lonely if Chi and I weren't there."

Minoru shrugged. "Fine by me. Honestly, we could easily invite everyone. The house is certainly big enough."

"What about me?" a voice from beside them said. Hideki looked over to see Kojima and Neru approaching them. Kotoko rode on Kojima's shoulder, and she seemed happier than Hideki had ever seen her.

"Alright, that's the last I'm doing," Neru announced. "I got you idiots in and out, even did it in two groups. Now where's my thirty bit coin?"

Minoru adjusted his glasses and approached her. "Yuzuki's ready to make the payment. Everything's set up, I just have to send a message to her. Give me a minute."

As Kojima neared Hideki and Chi, Kotoko leaped across to Hideki's shoulder.

"That was really awesome!" Kojima commented. "I never thought I'd be able to see a real life corporate lab like that. Thanks for letting me tag along."

"It wasn't really my decision," Hideki replied. "It was Kotoko that contacted you, not me."

Kotoko's blush simulators activated. "Master Kojima programmed me to send him messages about anything I found which might be of interest to him. And his technical and programming knowledge were important to our success. That's all there was to it."

Hideki smiled. It was cute how much Kotoko tried to pretend that she did not care about her master. After how she had acted prior to her crash, however, Hideki was not buying it.

Kojima shrugged. "Whoever it was, I'm glad I could come along." An awkward silence passed as the persocom builder fidgeted. "Look, Motosuwa, there's something I've been wanting to say."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Kojima continued fidgeting for several seconds before finally sighing. "This really isn't the sort of thing I normally do. I know it's three years late, but I'm really sorry. About what happened with Chi."

Hideki was stunned. He had never expected Kojima to bring up that again. Normally it was Hideki who would mention it, but it had slipped his mind recently.

"I was a bit of an idiot back then," Kojima continued. "I let my obsession get the better of me. I'd never do anything like that to you guys these days." His usual grin was back in place as he held out his hand. "So how about it?" He held out a hand. "Are we cool?"

Hideki shrugged and looked to Chi. Chi's expression was skeptical, clearly not sure what to make of this new apology.

Turning back to Kojima, Hideki told him, "Apologize to Chi then."

Kojima raised an eyebrow. After a moment, he shrugged, then turned to Chi, a smile spreading across his face. "Hey, I'm sorry I kidnapped you."

Chi tilted her head. "Mr. Kojima is sorry?"

He laughed nervously. "Yeah, I'll never do anything like that again."

The persocom glanced over to Hideki, as if asking for his approval. Hideki shrugged, showing that he had no opinion either way. It was Chi's choice to forgive Kojima or not.

"It's okay," Chi replied. "It was a long time ago." She gripped Hideki's arm. "Mr. Kojima helped Hideki, Lola, and Kotoko. "Kojima seems like a good person now."

Apparently not knowing what to say, Kojima turned back to Hideki. "So are _you and I_ cool now?" he asked. "I don't want there to be any bad air between us anymore. You're a bit of an idiot, but you're also a pretty nice guy." he extended his hand again. "What do you say? friends?" "

Hideki took Kojima's hand and shook it. "Friends."

Kojima beamed. "Awesome! Glad we could clear that up." He glanced over to the miniature persocom now on Hideki's shoulder. "There's some things I'd like to talk to Kotoko about, when there's time."

Kotoko nodded. "It would be good to talk with you again, master."

At that moment, Minoru called over from where he had been speaking with Neru. "Well, that settles that."

Hideki looked over to them. "Thanks for all this."

Neru shrugged. "It's my job, you paid me for it. Now do you mind? I have places I'd rather be."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't do it to help the Vocaloids?"

"N-no, of course not!" Neru stammered. "Don't be stupid."

"Well we're all grateful regardless," Minoru cut in. "You've done everything you could for us."

"Right," she replied. See you later. Or not. Whatever."

With that, the yellow-haired persocom stalked off down the street, disappearing around the corner in a matter of moments.

Kojima chuckled. "What a thoroughly unpleasant persocom."

Hideki blushed as he remembered what he had seen in the maintenance tunnels. Even when she was in the middle of a difficult job, helping people that she claimed she hated, she still wore Miku's teal-striped panties. She had some sort of dream or desires, ones she did not want anyone else knowing about.

"I don't know," Hideki replied. "I think she's only like that because she's programmed that way. I'm sure that, deep down she's a good person."

A few minutes later, a taxi pulled up by the curve. Recognizing its passangers, Minoru crossed over to it, opened the side door and handed the driver his credit card.

"These two are with me,." He told the driver, "Just put everything on my card."

The door to the taxi opened, and two figures climbed out. The one in the lead was a familiar, slightly overweight man with thick glasses. Behind him was a slim person dressed in a raincoat clearly too large for them. It took only a moment for Hideki to realize the person under it was a woman, and a persocom.

Minoru gave a friendly smile. "It's been a while, Mr. Oshiro."

The persocom counterfeiter nodded back. "I got here as quickly as I could. It was really early in the morning when you called."

"Yes," Minoru replied. "I'm sorry about contacting you at such an inconvenient time. We wouldn't have if it wasn't an emergency."

"So what's all of this about?" he asked. "And why did you want me to bring Lola with me? You didn't give a lot of explanation over the phone."

"She's actually the reason we need your help," he explained. "It turns out we have a situation that she's perfectly suited for."

Oshiro frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's about Lola—the actual Lola," Minoru told him.

The figure under the raincoat, who Hideki could now see was Oshiro's replica of Lola, spoke up. "My original? What's going to happen to her?"

She's in trouble," Hideki explained. "If we don't do anything, then she's going to be shut off forever."

"They can't do that!" Oshiro exclaimed. "Lola's the original female Vocaloid! Miku wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for her!"

Hideki gritted his teeth. "The corporation thinks she isn't profitable enough, apparently."

His expressions of horror and anger said more than any words could. After a few moments, the man was able to reply.

"What can we do?" Mr. Oshiro asked.

"We need you to cause a distraction so that we can sneak Lola through the lobby and across the park. Then she and the others can send a broadcast and let the world know. If they think she's the real Lola for a full five minutes, they won't be looking for her."

Oshiro nodded. "Right." He turned to the replica Lola. "Do you think you could do that?"

She smiled. "You built me to be exactly like her. Don't you have faith in your own talent?"

Now that Hideki had had the chance to speak with the original Lola, he could not help but compare the two. The replica was good, nearly perfect even. She might fool anyone else, but not him. During her time as Lofiy, Lola had changed. It was subtle, not anything that he could even explain to himself, but the difference was undeniable.

"She _is_ a good replica," Hideki admitted.

The counterfeiter frowned. "I don't know. That would put her at risk, wouldn't it? Not to be rude, but I'm not going to risk one of my girls just for nothing."

"Once they realize that she isn't the real one, they should let you go," Minoru reassured him. After a moment, he grinned. "If you do this, all of the Vocaloids are going to be grateful. That uncludes Lola."

Oshiro nodded. He slipped his arm around the replica Lola's waist. "Let's go cause a distraction."

The two walked off toward Yanaha's offices, still arm in arm.

"What now?" Kojima asked.

"I'd better head home," Minoru said, "Yuzuki will be worried."

"Well I'm in the mood to celebrate!" he declared. "Come on, M, Let's find a café near here, load up channel 23 on a public 'com, and watch the fireworks."

"Another time maybe," Minoru replied. "Really, I need sleep."

"Another time we won't have anything to celebrate!" he exclaimed. "Just a few minutes won't hurt. Don't you want to watch the stream?"

Minoru and Kojima continued to argue as they walked off down the sidewalk toward the center of Tokyo. Finally, Hideki was left alone with Chi and Kotoko.

Chi slipped her arm through his. "Are you alright, Hideki?"

Hideki smiled. "I'm alright. I'm glad you're here at least, Chi."

"Chi couldn't do much," she replied.

"Maybe not," Hideki admitted. "But you were there for me, and you wanted to help. That's all that really matters."

She leaned against his shoulder. "I love you, Hideki."

"I love you too!" he replied.

The two simply smiled for a long moment. Finally, Kotoko cleared her throat.

"Where to now?" she asked.

Hideki sighed. "Let's head home. Minoru's right, I need rest."

She nodded. "The next train back leaves in twenty minutes. Go three blocks north and one west."

He did not know how long the Vocaloids intended to broadcast their message. Most likely until security realized what was happening and broke down the door. By the time he made it home, it might all be over. That made him sad. He wished he could watch from behind the cameras in the studio, but he would have just been in the way. Still, he wanted to see it through in some capacity.

He glanced over to the persocom on his shoulder once more. "Hey Kotoko?"

"Yes?" she replied.

"Do you think you could record the broadcast?" he asked.

She shrugged. "The compression would be terrible on mobile internet, but it's doable."

Hideki frowned. For something this important, that didn't seem enough. Maybe if he could get someone else to record it. Something else also occurred to him. The broadcast would not do much good if no one was watching. He had to spread the word.

Hideki spoke to Kotoko once more. "Hey, could you also place a call to Yumie?"

"Of course." She sounded confused, but put the call through anyway.

After a few moments, Yumie's voice emerged from Kotoko's mouth. "Hello?"

"Yumi?" Hideiki said, "It's Hideki."

"Hideki?" she sounded confused. "What are you doing calling this early in the morning? What's wrong?"

Hideki sighed. "Look, there's a thing happening right now that I don't have time to explain. I need you to go to a website called Channel 23. It's a streaming video news service. I need you to watch it and record it for me."

"What's this all about?" she asked.

"There isn't enough time to explain," he reiterated. "It's about the Vocaloids and it's super important. You also need to let as many Vocaloid fans know about it as possible. Everyone needs to be watching, and there isn't much time before it starts. Do you think you could do those things for me?"

"Sure," she replied, clearly still suspicious. "Is it that important?"

"The broadcast should explain everything," Hideki told her. "Thanks for this."

"For you and Chi? I'd do anything."

Kotoko's eyes refocused as the call ended.

Hideki sighed. "Okay. Now it's time to go home."


	40. Track 40: Breathe

Track 40: Breathe

Max Headroom's constantly glitching voice emerged from the Television. On the screen he seemed ecstatic, his body jerking more wildly than ever before.

"Hey there all you fine-fine-fine, beautiful watchers. We here at Channel 23 always bring you up to da-da-da-da-d-d-dddddd-…up to date information on persocoms, and ooh boy, do we have something special for you. C-c-coming to you live from twenty minutes into the future, we have a special broadcast straight from the horse's mouth. Or, the Vocaloid's mouth. Well, either way we're going to be looking at some long faces today. From Yanaha Cybernetics at this very moment, we have a very special message from Hatsune Miku herself."

He made a show of adjusting his tie, which seemed to be sculpted in place, and pulled at his collar.

"This is a fir-first in the history-y-y of our channel. High and mighty Vocaloids dealing with underground news like us. They must really be desperate. I'm Swe-swe-s-sweating…or maybe that's just my coolant system leaking again. While I get someone to call maintenance for me, please enjoy this broadcast."

The video glitched for a moment as the stream from Yanaha began. Miku stood in front of a solid green wall, a serious expression on her face.

"Hey everybody!" the teal-haired Vocaloid began, "Hatsune Miku here with a very special message. Some of you have probably figured out something weird's been going on in the last few weeks: concerts being canceled, everyone seeming a little off, and some strange social media posts we made. Well you don't have to guess any longer. We're here to tell you what's been going on, and also to ask for your help."

At that moment, Lola walked into frame. Her movements were still uncoordinated and sweeping, as if she were drunk. Miku placed an arm around her shoulders.

"My sister here, Lola, is supposed to be shut down. The corporation decided that she isn't profitable anymore, so they just want to switch her off and junk her. Yeah, just like that old TV you got rid of when a newer model came along. We don't know how long we'll be able to continue broadcasting before they figure out we're doing this, but until they break in and reprogram us for doing this, but we're going to keep sending out this message."

The broadcast continued, with Miku acting as host as each of the Vocaloids in turn approached to give a short speech. Each ended with an impassioned plea for the public to help save Lola. First were Gackupo, and Flower in Lofiy's body. Their speech touched both on the situation with Lola and Flower's recent incident with the Videodrome streamers. Flower-Lofiy seemed dazed, as if she were sleepwalking, but she still managed to recount her own story, and explain why she was appearing in a surrogate body. The two disappeared quite quickly, no doubt heading back to the lab in order to reverse the transfer. Dozens of other Vocaloids came after them, a seemingly endless succession of concerned vocaloids pleading for fans to help them and for the corporation to reconsider their decision.

Hideki lay on his futon, head on his pillow, eyes turned lazily toward the screen. It had been a full day since his experiences in the Yanaha building, and he was still recuperating. He was so exhausted he could barely move his arms. The television was a pleasant distraction. Chi lay cuddling with him, her head resting on his chest. He was surprised how good that felt. Somehow it seemed more like he was comforting her than vice versa.

It had been a long time since he had passed out from exhaustion, but no sooner had he returned to his apartment than he had fallen asleep. When he awoke once more, six hours had passed, and it was early afternoon. Even then, he had stayed awake just long enough to eat, call in sick to his classes for the next day, then fell back asleep.

On the television, another Vocaloid walked onscreen to make their appeal. A loud thumping came from a spot offscreen. Kaito ran past the camera, calling for the others to brace the door.

Kotoko sat by the television, an external video cable connecting her to it. "The stream has already been rebroadcast by most major news outlets," she commented. "But they were late to pick it up. It seems that, this time, channel 23 scooped them. It's also gone viral, with recordings uploaded to every video and social media site on the internet, and fan reactions are already becoming heated."

Hideki sighed. "I guess that should be expected. I don't think anything like this has ever happened before."

"You should be proud," Kotoko told him, "Accomplishing such an elaborate plan."

He smiled to her. "You helped a lot too. It was you who got Kojima involved, you who transferred Lola back into her body, and you who had the idea of using the doppelganger to distract security."

She squirmed, blush simulators activating. "It wasn't an idea, it was a calculated solution. It's what I'm programmed to do, nothing special."

"Well, we couldn't have done it without you," he said, "I'm glad you're still here with us."

"Thanks," she huffed.

Sumomo's head perked up from where she sat next to Kotoko. "Ring, ring, ring! Phone call! Phone call!"

Hideki groaned. "Answer." He hoped it was not anyone from either Yanaha or Tokyo University. He was not mentally prepared to deal with either at the moment.

Sumomo's eyes unfocused as she connected the call.

"Hideki? It's Minoru," the voice on the other end of the line began.

"Hey," Hideki replied, greatly relieved. "Is everything alright?"

"I just got off the phone with the doctor," he said. "She'll be indisposed for the next week or two because of the broadcast. Apparently, it's complete pandemonium there. Everyone is under suspicion from management. All public appearances for Miku and the other Vocaloids have been cancelled or postponed while they await reprogramming. Yanaha stock is already down 10 percent because of this. Heads are going to start rolling soon, and she has to deal with them as best as she can.

"Makes sense," Hideki replied. He heasitated for a moment, wondering if he should ask his next question. Something told him that talking about their infiltration over the phone was a bad idea. "There isn't any chance of it spilling over to us, is there?" he asked.

Minoru coughed on the other end of the line. "I can't say for certain we _won't_ be under suspicion. After all, we were investigating Lola's disappearance, but it's also possible that they won't even consider us suspects because we're outsiders. It's a matter of who knew we had been hired and why."

"Good," Hideki replied. "I've had enough excitement for a lifetime."

"Agreed," Minoru sighed. "Renting that island house sounds really good about now."

Is there anything else you want to talk about?" he asked.

"One thing," the younger man said, "Now that the whole Lola situation has taken care of itself, we _do_ have time to work on Freya once again. I think we're close enough to finished that we'll be able to activate her. I was thinking of setting up another meeting for next Sunday. Are you interested in being there?"

Hideki sat up slightly, his interest cutting through his exhaustion. "Sounds good to me. Could we back up Chi at the same time? After what happened to Kotoko, I don't feel safe without her data being protected by a backup."

"Of course!" the younger man exclaimed. After all, Keeping Chi safe and running was always the goal for us."

Hideki smiled. "Thanks!

"It's the least I can do," Minoru replied. "I owe you a lot. If it wasn't for your determination and you trusting your gut instincts, we wouldn't have found Lola in the first place, let alone brought her back. Our success is entirely yours."

Hideki was not sure how to respond to that. "See you next Sunday," he said.

Sumomo's eyes refocused. "Call ended!"

Hideki's head sunk back against his pillow. That was it, then. One of their ongoing projects was over, and before another week had passed the other would be too. It was relieving, but also sad. Freya's repair had become as much part of his life as searching for Lola had.

Chi stroked his hair as she looked up into his eyes. "Mr. Kokubunji is going to finish fixing Freya?"

"That's what we're hoping," Hideki replied. "We all want to see her back up and running again."

"Does that mean I'm going to have a little sister?" she asked.

Hideki thought for a moment, then nodded. "She'll probably be just like you were you were first activated. You'll have to help us teach her everything the way I taught you, okay?"

Chi nodded eagerly, a smile spreading across her face. "I will!"

Sumomo spoke up once more. "You have another incoming phone call!"

Hideki frowned. Once again, he had no idea who could possibly be calling him. "Answer it."

Sumomo's eyes unfocused once again. "Hideki, it's Hiroyasu," the voice on the other end of the line

Hideki raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Mr. Ueda?"

"Hey, I'm glad I could get you." He sounded relieved. "I tried yesterday evening, but you weren't there."

"Sorry about that," Hdeki replied, "I've been exhausted after this whole job I've been working on. What can I do for you?"

"I want to thank you for letting us know about the broadcast about Lola. I don't know how you found out about it, but we're both glad you did. Yumi's already talking about setting up a letter-writing campaign to help Lola."

"No trouble at all!" Hideki replied, trying his best to sound cheerful rather than exhausted.

There was a long, awkward pause. Mr. Ueda coughed on the other end of the line.

It was Hideki who finally broke the silence. "Was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Do you have the phone number or email of the friend of yours who helped Yumi with her persocom?" he asked.

"There were a number of them," Hideki replied. "Anyone in particular you were thinking of?"

"Any of them. Or all if you have their contact information." Something about Mr. Ueda's tone seemed overly eager.

Hideki frowned, curious why the man suddenly wanted to know about his friends. "What's this about?" he asked.

On the other end of the line, the man sighed. "It's Yumie. She's become obsessed with Saki. She spends almost all of her spare time working on her, trying to make her even more perfect. She doesn't even go out much anymore, not like she used to. She'll just send Saki out with me instead. I think what you said about her is true; she's trying to make Saki a replacement for her. I have an idea of how I can fix it, but I need their help."

Hideki considered that for a minute, wondering what the baby-faced pastry chef could possibly have planned. If Ueda was right and Yumi was trying to make Saki replace her, then she needed help desperately. He gave the pastry chef Minoru and Shinbo's phone numbers.

"Thanks!" Mr. Ueda replied. "You may have just helped me save Yumi. You're a good guy, Hideki."

He sighed. "Why does everyone keep telling me that?"

"Because it's true," Mr. Ueda replied, and with that he hung up.

Sumomo's eyes refocused. "Call ended!"

"Thanks," he replied absentmindedly. Hopefully no one else would call.

Hideki turned to look at the television screen again. They had reached the end of the broadcast. It cut off abruptly as Yanaha's security force stormed the room. The video briefly returned to Max Headroom before the video ended. That was all. The public had been warned, the Vocaloids had been rounded up by Yanaha security. They had accomplished everything they had wanted to. He was not sure whether he should feel sad or relieved. On one hand, they had done everything they could to save Lola. On the other hand, everything was over, and many of the Vocaloids he had come to know were probably about to be reprogrammed.

Chi shifted against him, hugging his chest closer. "Will Yumi be alright?" she asked.

Hideki sighed. "I don't know, Chi. I hope so, but I don't know."

"I hope she will too," Chi replied. "Her and Lola and Flower, I hope all of them will be okay."

Hideki could not help but smile. Pure, innocent Chi. Year after year, she had been there for him, never becoming jealous, never asking for too much. She worried about him and everyone both of them knew. She had even become involved in his investigation just because she wanted to be close to him. Somehow, through his haphazard attempts to teach her and everything she had experienced, she had become perfect. He loved her and wanted to be with her forever.

In an instant, Hideki came to a decision. He could not deny who he was to the world any longer, especially not what she meant to him. Slipping an arm around Chi's waist and looking into her eyes, he said, "Chi, will you marry me?"

Chi tilted her head. "Marry?"

When Hideki realized what she was asking, he could have kicked himself. How could he have gone three years without ever teaching her what marriage was. She needed to understand what he was asking before she gave him an answer.

"Marrying someone is…when you agree to spend your life together with someone. To stay together no matter what happens. To support them when they need help, and to cherish each other because they love each other."

"Are we not married already?" she asked.

He stroked her hair. "Not yet, but we can be. I want to be, if you want to. So, Chi, will you marry me?"

Chi smiled and hugged him tightly. "Yes."

Hideki could not help but smile back. Everything seemed to be working out just perfect. He and Chi would be together forever. Within a week, she would be backed up and would have a younger sister on the way. That reminded him of something important he needed to do. With the events of the last few days, he had pushed it to the back of his mind, but now it came flooding back to him.

With a supreme effort, he rose from his futon. "We should go tell Ms. Hibiya."

"Does she need to know?" Chi asked.

"She should," Hideki replied. "After all, she's your mother."

In less than a minute, Hideki was knocking on Ms. Hibiya's door. The landlady opened it within a matter of moments, looking at both of them curiously.

"Oh! Mr. Motosuwa!" She exclaimed. "Is something wrong?'

Hideki could barely contain his excitement. "I've decided—" He gripped Chi's hand "— _We've_ decided—to take you up on your offer. We want to stay on, after I'm out of college. Together, as a family, with Chi as my wife."

The look which played across Ms. Hibiya's face was many emotions at the same time: Shock, surprise, joy, and sadness, and relief.

"I'm glad!" she finally replied.

"I should have done this a long time ago," Hideki apologized. "I was embarrassed by everything when I shouldn't have been. But I can't deny my feelings any longer. I love Chi and want to stay with her forever. If you're willing to let us stay here still, we'll stay."

The landlady seemed on the verge of tears. "I'll start renovating a room for you right away! Oh, if only Icchan was alive to see this!"

"There's one more thing, too," Hideki told her.

Ms. Hibiya raised an eyebrow, a confused expression on her face. "What is it?"

"There's something very special that my friends and I have been working on," he explained. "It's taken us weeks to get finished, and we're now almost done. I'd like if you could come and see it."

"What sort of thing have you been working on?" she asked, "And what does that have to do with you two getting married?"

Hideki hid a smile. "You'll like it. Trust me."


	41. Track 41: Dear Doppleganger

Track 41: Dear Doppleganger

Hideki sighed in relief as Chi's eyes refocused. She looked up to him, a smile spreading across her face. A cable snaked out from one of her ear ports, leading to a small white box the size of a small book with a blinking LED on its front. There was an almost inaudible click as the device stopped whirring.

"The backup process is now complete!" Sumomo cheered, dancing in a circle on the table. "You may safely remove the external drive!"

A large group was gathered in Minoru's lounge. Minoru, Kojima, Hideki, Chi and Ms. Hibiya were seated on the couches, with Sumomo and Kotoko on the table between them. Several additional chairs had been drawn up, though at the moment they remained empty. The afternoon sun shone in through the windows, its harsh rays scattered by the fine linen curtains and illuminating the room in a brilliant gold color.

Minoru unplugged the external hard disk from Chi's ear port and handed it to Hideki. "Here you are. I'd recommend updating this weekly if you can, but no less than monthly. The longer you wait, the more you risk losing."

"Weekly would be best," Kojima cut in, "Don't gamble with a persocom's data again if you can at all help it."

Hideki nodded as he took the external hard drive and held it up the device to examine it. Here it was; the key to keeping Chi safe. As long as he made regular backups, she would never suffer the same fate which Mr. Ueda's wife had. She could be badly damaged, rebooted, or even destroyed, and he still would not lose her. It seemed as if an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. In spite of all he had seen in the last month, the world no longer seemed such a scary place.

"How much do I owe you for this?" he asked.

Minoru held up a hand. "It's on me. A reward for everything you've done."

"I can't thank you enough," he replied. Hideki turned to Chi, showing her the drive. "Here it is, Chi! All your memories carefully saved."

Chi examined it closely, not seeming to understand. "This makes Hideki happy?"

"Relived," Hideki corrected her. "I just want to make sure you're safe."

"And the backup keeps Chi safe?" she asked.

Hideki nodded. "oh yes! If anything happens that makes you lose memories, we can just put them right back in."

Chi smiled, but after a moment she looked concerned. "Can we backup your memories too?"

"Not just yet," said a voice from above them. Hideki looked up to see Yuzuki carrying a tray of tea and cakes. "For the moment it's impossible."

A look of sudden fear passed across Chi's face. "Then if anything happens to Hideki, he's gone forever?"

"Don't worry," Hideki reassured her, trying not to laugh, "I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

"Perhaps one day," Yuzuki added. "Technology is always advancing."

Hideki gave her a curious look. "Have you discovered something new from your research into having children?"

"In a sense," she admitted. "Our illegal parts dealer acquaintance gave us several ideas we've been following up on. One thing led to another, and master Minoru and I began speaking about digitized human memory. It's not entirely possible yet, the way human memories are stored is too different, but it's only a matter of time before the mechanisms are understood well enough."

We, Hideki reflected. She was not looking into this alone anymore, it seemed. Hideki was glad; Yuzuki no longer had to hide her desire, no longer had to explore her options alone.

Yuzuki turned to Chi. "Chi, could you help me with the rest of the cookies?"

Chi rose from her seat, smoothing down the front of her dress. "Chi can do that!" she exclaimed.

As the two persocoms rushed off toward the kitchen, Hideki turned to Ms. Hibiya. "Sorry for the wait," he said, "There are still a few people who aren't here yet. It's a big event that Minoru and the others have been working on for a while, and we want to make sure everyone has the chance to be here for it."

"Oh it's quite alright," Ms. Hibiya replied, "Though I still don't understand why you want me here. Whatever it is you're planning, don't see how I can do more than watch."

"It's something I think you'll be interested in," he explained. "You'll see what I mean when we're ready."

The landlady shrugged. "You have me intrigued, to say the least."

Silence fell between them. After several minutes, Chi and Yuzuki returned, each carrying a large tray of carefully arranged cookies, Chi noticeably struggling. The heavy, unwieldy silver tray wobbled, but Chi managed to keep the cookies from sliding off. Hideki could not help but smile; she was so impossibly cute.

"I'm glad you're backing her up," Ms. Hibiya said. "Chi's become a wonderful girl under your teaching. I don't want to lose her too."

Hideki frowned, suddenly realizing something he had never thought of before. "Didn't you and your husband keep backups of Elda and Freya?" he asked.

She sighed. "We did, sort of. Every week at first, but as time went on I did it less and less. In the end I simply forgot, and by the time I remembered it was too late for Freya." Ms. Hibiya looked down into her lap, sadness welling in her eyes. "I forgot that they were persocoms, that they needed things like that."

Hideki nodded. "I'm just starting to figure that out myself. They look and act so much like us, we forget that they're their own kind of creature, with their own needs." He thought back to Club Mercer, and to what Calandra had told him. All of the custom persocoms, with their odd and often crude appearances, they celebrated what they were. They were proud to be mechanical. "We can't forget that, though: they aren't fake people, they're real persocoms."

Yuzuki and Chi approached, carefully setting their trays of cookies down on the table. At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Yuzuki looked over to one of the maids who had followed her into the room. "Would you answer that, please!"

"Yes, mistress Yuzuki," the maid replied, quickly disappearing into the foyer.

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "Mistress?"

The persocom's blush simulators activated. "It was master Minoru's idea. Since I've become such a close companion to him, he thought I should have a status to match."

Hideki did his best to hide a smile.

They could hear Yumi and Saki before they even entered the room. The pink-haired, rabbit-eared persocom was the first through the door, her pitch-perfect recreation of Yumi's voice raised in excitement.

"Hey everybody!" she cheered. "Is everyone ready? I know I am!"

"Hello there to you too," Hideki replied.

Saki's attention focused on him, ears twitching. "Hideki Motosuwa! Long time no see! How have you been doing? Good, I hope! Are you here for the big day too?"

Hideki did not know how he could reply without laughing.

"Sorry," Yumi said, "I think I might have made her a little _too_ peppy."

"It's alright," he reassured her. Hideki nodded back to Saki. "Yeah, we're here for the same reason, and Yeah, we're excited."

Saki beamed. "Good!"

Hideki blinked in surprise as a third person entered the room behind them. The woman's white lab coat were unmistakable. "Dr. Suzuhara!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought they were keeping you for questioning."

The doctor looked more haggard than he had ever seen her, her curly hair untied and unkempt. Her eyes were sunken in, and the lines at the corners of her mouth were deeper than ever before. Nonetheless, she seemed as excited to be there as anyone, except perhaps Saki.

"They let me out early on good behavior," she replied with a smirk. "Actually, I'm free to come and go as I want, as long as I don't try to leave town. Something about that being suspicious behavior."

"You're involved with this surprise?" Ms. Hibiya asked. Her tone seemed carefully measured and formal, as if she was trying to remain polite.

Dr. Suzuhara nodded. "You could say that. I've been helping them."

Ms. Hibiya turned to look at Hideki, still doing her best to remain calm. "You didn't tell me that Shuko was part of this."

Hideki shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. He should have anticipated this reaction based on how she had acted to the doctor before. "I didn't think she'd be able to make it here for this. After the whole thing with the Vocaloid broadcast, she was supposed to be too busy. It isn't a problem, is it?"

"Absolutely not!" the landlady replied, a little to firmly.

A few minutes later Shinbo arrived. With the addition of the newcomers and Minoru's maids, the lounge had never seemed so crowded. It now felt more like Yumi's house party had than the quiet and calm space it had been before. As everyone settled down into their chairs, Minoru motioned for the maids to begin.

Two of them wheeled a gurney into the room. Freya was laid out on its surface, completely exposed except for the towel tucked around her torso for modesty. Hideki examined her with amazement. The restoration had gone beautifully. He had known Minoru and Shinbo planned to do some cosmetic touch ups, but he had not seen their finished work. Freya looked as if she could sit up any second, a far cry from the corpse she had looked like when they had first seen her in Undertaker's basement.

The landlady was clearly trying to keep a neutral expression, but there was shock and anger in her eyes. "What's the meaning of this?"

Hideki squirmed guiltily. This was something he _had_ anticipated, and he had not been looking forward to it.

"She's the first of the two Chobits, right?" Minoru asked.

Ms. Hibiya was becoming more angry than Hideki had ever seen her. Her calm and happy façade cracked and slowly began crumbling away. "Yes, and my husband and I took special care to bury her with respect like the daughter she was. What are you doing with her in your living room?"

"Someone dug her up and was trying to sell her," Hideki explained. "We couldn't just let him keep her, so we bought and tried to restore her."

"'Tried' nothing, we did it!" Kojima interjected, a proud smile on his face. "And we'd never have managed it if it wasn't for Shu. She knew the systems like the back of her hand."

Ms. Hibiya turned to the doctor, incredulity finally breaking through her carefully measured politeness to the other woman. "You _helped_ them with this?"

Dr. Suzuhara held up her hands defensively. "The damage was already done by the time I got involved. They were trying to do a restoration job, I just did my best to make sure they didn't screw it up."

"We didn't want to tell you until we had something to show for it," Hideki added. "And now she's completely fixed. We think, at least."

The landlady shook her head. "That's impossible! My husband and I tried everything we knew, and even then we couldn't fix her."

"It was an extensive job," Shinbo added. "We had to pretty much take her completely apart. We had plenty of help, though. With Dragonfly, M and I on the case, Kotoko, Sumomo and Yuzuki adding in their help, and Dr. Suzuhara guiding us, we stumbled our way through a complete restoration."

"Chi helped too!" Chi exclaimed. "She helped me with my feelings for Hideki, so I wanted to help her any way I could."

Ms. Hibiya glanced from Chi to Hideki and back. She seemed to be trying to reach some sort of decision, one that was very hard for her. After half a minute, the landlady's face relaxed from one of anger to one of sadness. She shrugged limply. "Go ahead then."

Hideki reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but stopped. He had been the one that had invited her to join them, and he could not help but feel like he had deceived her.

"Right," Kojima said, leaning forward in his seat. "So, who's going to turn her on?"

"Hideki was the one that solved our case," Minoru spoke up, "He should have the honor."

Hideki blushed. "Ah, guys, you do know where her on switch is, right?"

Ms. Hibiya, Chi, and Dr. Suzuhara nodded. Shinbo crossed his arms and sighed.

Kojima smirked. "What's the matter? Can't deal with booting up a persocom? You must have a really dirty mind."

Yumi glanced from one of them to the next. "What's wrong? Doesn't she switch on like any other persocom?"

Hideki could not stop fidgeting. "Well, ah, not exactly. She does have a switch which you just have to press, but it's in a really awkward place that I don't really want to talk about."

"Mr. Motosuwa's acting like a pervert," Saki observed.

Hideki blushed an even brighter red. The pink haired persocom, intentionally or not, had hit a little too close to home.

"If it's too much, one of us can activate her," Yuzuki offered.

"If you don't I will," Kojima added.

Hideki took a deep breath to calm himself. "No," he replied. "I'll do it."

With a final look to Chi for support, Hideki rose and crossed to the gurney. He looked down at the deactivated persocom for a moment. She really did look so much like Chi: the same cute face, the same platinum blonde hair, the same slender build and short stature. But for all the similarities, he could never mistake one for the other. After three and a half years of waking up to her face, he knew every detail of both her face and her body. She was as familiar to him as his own reflection. But when he looked at Freya, all he saw was a stranger: a doppelganger that would fool any other person, but not him.

Not wanting to give himself any more time to think, he reached up between Freya's legs. The switch was there, right where he had expected it to be, right where it had been before. The spot which made it impossible for him and Chi to ever make love. As he had three and a half years ago with Chi, he pressed until he heard a faint click.

For a moment, everything was silent. the room erupted in cheers as they heard the whir of a fan activating from within Freya's torso, followed moments later by the whine of her hard drive spinning up. The air around seemed to charge with electricity as Freya's hair began to float and faintly glow. As this effect faded, the persocom opened her eyes and looked around the room. Ever so slowly she sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the gurney.

The room was completely silent. They were all too surprised, too polite, or too awestruck to say anything.

It was Hideki who finally broke the silence. "Hello there!" he said.

"He…lo…there." She repeated. It did not seem like she understood, she was just repeating the syllables.

He pointed to himself. "I'm Hideki. It's very nice to meet you."

"Hi-de-ki. Very-nice-to-meet-you," she mimicked, her voice becoming smoother and more confident.

Minoru shook his head in amazement. "Remarkable!"

"Incredible!" Yumi added.

"Awesome!" Saki exclaimed.

"We did it!" Shinbo cheered.

"She still needs a name," Kojima pointed out.

Hideki suddenly remembered what the managers of Club Mercer had said about the Chobits, how they were the progenitors of all persocoms. If Freya was going to have a new name to mark her rebirth, it had to be something appropriate. After only a moment, the answer came to him.

Hideki looked her in the eyes. "Your name is Eve," he told her. He pointed at her to emphasize his point. "Do you understand? Eve."

"Eve," the persocom formerly called Freya repeated. "Eve? Eve!" Her excitement showed she understood that, at least.

"Is she doing good?" Chi asked.

"So far," Hideki replied. Hideki motioned for Chi to approach. "Here, come say hello to her."

As the newly-christened Eve caught sight of her, a look of confusion spread across her face. Hideki wondered if Persocoms could recognize themselves so soon after activation. Chi had not needed him to explain what mirrors were, or that the persocom in the reflection was her. Perhaps self-recognition was in their basic programming. If so, then presenting Eve with a near-perfect duplicate of herself so soon was bound to be confusing.

Hideki slipped his arm around Chi's shoulders. "Eve, this is your big sister, Chi."

"Sister," Eve repeated. "Big sister. Chi."

Chi smiled. And, after a moment, Eve mimicked her. "It's nice to meet you, little sister Eve."

Eve did not respond; she probably did not understand how to yet. There would be time to teach her that, but for the moment, she was making good progress.

Chi tilted her head and gave Hideki a questioning look. "Doesn't she understand?"

"Only a little," he explained, "We'll have to teach her about how to talk and what the world is like. Like I did with you."

Chi beamed. "I'll help!"

Ms. Hibiya seemed almost in tears as she approached. "Do you mind if I say hello?"

"Please do!" Hideki exclaimed. Gently taking her by the hand, he guided her forward.

The landlady's smile was warm, despite looking like she was about to cry. "Hello there, Eve."

Eve tilted her head in an imitation of Chi's earlier gesture. "Eve?"

"This is Ms. Hibiya," Hideki explained. "She's your mommy."

Eve looked back to Hideki and tilted her head. "Mo…mmy?"

He nodded. "That's right. She'll be the one taking care of you. You're going to go live with her from now on."

The shocked expression on the landlady's face said everything. The anger and betrayal she had felt toward Hideki evaporated in an instant, replaced with one of disbelief. The tears which she had been holding back before welled up at the corner of her eyes. Yumi was right; Ms. Hibiya had been lonely.

The newly-awakened persocom turned back toward the landlady, smile once again on her face. She pointed at Ms. Hibiya. "Mommy!"

Suddenly, Ms. Hibiya rushed forward, pushing past Hideki and pulled Eve into an embrace. Eve's expression was surprise and confusion, but after a moment she hugged back. Hideki took a step back to give them room, and motioned for the others to do so as well.

When Ms. Hibiya finally spoke again, her voice was hoarse and quavering, punctuated by sobs. "Get out. Get out all of you. Let me have a minute with her alone."

Without a word, the entire group retreated out of the lounge. The instant the door closed behind them, the entire group breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"She's happy," the doctor said, smiling. "That's always such a magical moment, watching a new persocom come alive for the first time. Or an old one in this case."

"I feel terrible about getting her here without letting her know about Freya—sorry, Eve," he admitted. "I should have told her what we were doing a long time ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to."

"She'll come around to it sooner or later," the doctor reassured him. "You've given her back something she thought she'd never have again: a daughter."

"It's going to be sooner rather than later," Yumi interjected. "After how lonely she's been, I don't think she could stay mad at you."

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Yumi raised an eyebrow. "We're not expecting anyone else, are we?"

Minoru nodded. "That'll be the last guest. He said not to wait up for him."

Hideki gave Minoru a curious look. "He?"

The doorbell rang once more.

"Yuzuki," Minorus said, "Would you be kind enough to get that?"

"Of course!" she replied. Crossing to the front door, she opened it. "Sorry for the delay. Please, come in!"

"Sorry I'm late," said a familiar male voice, "But the shop was busy today, and I had to spend a little longer cleaning up than normal."

Hideki's eyes went wide when he realized who it was.

"Hiro!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Master Ueda!" Saki said at the exact same moment.

The baker smiled. "Hello there, Yumi. I hope we're not too late for everything."

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "What's this abou—"

She trailed off as a second figure walked through the door. Behind Hiro, just stepping into the foyer, was a second Hiro.

For a moment, Yumi seemed stunned into silence, and Hideki was much the same. As details began to register in Hideki's brain, he realized his mistake. Deep blue hair, green eyes, catlike ears which stuck out from the sides of his head. This second Hiro was a persocom.

"Everyone," Hiro announced, "I want you to meet Takashi. He's my new persocom."

"It's very nice to meet you," Takashi added, his voice a pitch-perfect match for Hiro's.

Saki approached the second persocom. "Heya!" she began.

"Hello there," Takashi said, "You must be Saki. My master has told me a great deal about you."

"That's right!" Saki nodded eagerly. "I don't recognize you. that must mean you must be new! That's so exciting!"

Hideki could not help but laugh it was like watching Yumi and Hiro interact, but an even more exaggerated version.

As the two of them continued to talk, Hiro turned back to Yumi. "I hope you don't mind. I built him over the last week."

"Why?" Yumi asked.

Hiro sighed. There was a deep sadness in his expression. "I saw what was happening with you and Saki, and I just couldn't stand it. Watching you pouring all of your time and energy into making some perfect version of yourself, because you seem to think you're not good enough for me." He grimaced. "I'm not perfect either, dear. I can be a coward when it comes to my feelings. A bigger one than you ever could be. If I wasn't, we never would have had the misunderstanding about my first wife, we would have bought a house a long time ago, and you never would have needed to try and make Saki.

"I learned a lot about Persocom programming when my wife's hard drive started failing, and it's a good thing I remembered so much of it. Hideki's friends here helped me with some questions about parts and how to put Takashi together. A lot of effort, yes, but worth it. He is to me now what Saki is to you. Like me, but better." Glancing over to where the two persocoms were chatting animatedly, he gave a genuine smile. "Let the two of them have each other and be the perfect couple. The one I want to spend my time with is _you_. Not a perfect version of who you could be, but you the way you are _now_. Perfect for _me_."

Tears filled Yumi's eyes. "I've been such an idiot."

"Maybe," Hiro admitted, "But you're _my_ idiot."

Silence fell as the two of them embraced.

It was the doctor who finally broke the silence. "Well I'm feeling very good about today! It looks like everyone's moving toward a good place."

Hideki heard a sound he had not heard in many years: the ring of an old fashioned cellphone. Everyone in the foyer glanced around, trying to figure out where the sound's origin was.

Dr. Suzuhara's blush of embarrassment made it obvious. The doctor was already unzipping her bag to look for the device. After a moment, miniature hand reached out and handed her the disrupting phone. Ryuto poked his head out of the bag, winked to Hideki and smiled at Kyoko.

"Sorry," the doctor said, "I have to take this. It might have to do with the investigation." Holding the phone up to her ear, she said, "Dr. Suzuhara here." After a few moments of listening to the person on the other end of the line, she frowned in confusion. Glancing back to the others with a curious expression, she pointed to her phone. "It's the board."

"What do they want?" Minoru asked. He was trying, and failing, to keep a note of concern out of his voice.

"I don't know," the doctor admitted. She turned her attention back to the phone conversation. "Yes, I have a spare moment," she replied. "What can I do for you?"

As the person on the other end of the line spoke, the doctor's expression shifted to one of complete and total shock. She stood in place for several moments, unable to do anything but blink.

When she was finally able to speak coherently again, she said, "Excuse me, you want me to _what_?"

* * *

Brief Note:

I hope everyone's enjoyed this story so far. There is only one chapter left.

Unfortunately there will be a slight delay with the last chapter, hopefully not more than a week. There is a great deal I need to cover in it, and with the length of time it took to write this chapter I ran into a few delays. This was not helped by my main computer having some problems which disrupted my writing schedule. It's better now, but it threw off my timing.

Rest assured I am still very much actively working on the final chapter, every single day, and you _will_ see it once I am finished. Please understand, and I hope to see you all then for this story's finale.


	42. Track 42: Close to You

Author's Note: sorry this took so long to finish. There were a lot of things that I had to touch on here, and the holidays among other things disrupting my writing schedule did not help. I hope the wait was worth it.

* * *

Track 42: Close to You

Dr. Suzuhara polished the nameplate which sat on her new desk, its freshly-etched brass gleaming even in the tastefully dim office. Light glinted off of the characters which read "Dr. Suzuhara Shuko, President."

The president's office had changed very little since Hideki's last visit. The walls were spotless, and completely devoid of decorations save a large picture of Miku, Luka, Rin and Len. However, the monitor built into the president's desk was off, its surface a solid mass of black. To one side on the desk was the glass case containing Dr. Suzuhara's angel doll, looking like some strange sort of trophy. The very beige persocom of the former president was gone, her ottoman left empty for the moment. But In front of this was the same semicircle of comfortable chairs.

"Sorry about how bare this place looks," she apologized. "I'll have to do some decorating to make this place look more lively, but I haven't had the chance yet."

"Dr. Suzuhara, president of Yanaha Cybernetics," Minoru said, "It has a nice ring to it."

The doctor laughed. "I still have no idea why they chose me over the vice president, or any of the other more qualified candidates for that matter."

"Maybe they wanted a clean break from the previous administration," Minoru suggested, "considering the circumstances."

"Yanaha stock is down almost ten percent from before the broadcast," Kotoko added from her seat on Hideki's shoulder. "It's predicted to drop another few points before recovering."

"It could also be because of your work on the Vocaloids," Hideki said. "Their music is the company's business, and you know them better than anyone."

"Well whatever the reason is, you're in charge now," Kojima interjected. "That's what's important."

All of them nodded in agreement.

The three men were seated in the centermost set of chairs, with Chi and Yuzuki to either side. Kotoko and Sumomo were perched on Hideki's shoulders. He was not entirely certain why Kojima and the persocoms had been included in this meeting; as far as he knew, the doctor simply wanted to close out their contracts. Perhaps she wanted to thank everyone who had been involved with saving Lola.

"You can be assured that things will change around here," the doctor replied. "But in any case, we should get down to business." She turned to address Hideki and Minoru specifically. "The two of you have completed the job you were contracted for. The corporation owes you a fairly significant debt. I want to see to it that you're rewarded every cent you're owed, and more."

"I would like my payment in Yanaha stock, if possible," Minoru replied. "This project has convinced me that persocom musicians are a lucrative business, and Yanaha's stock value will definitely rebound once this incident passes."

Dr. Suzuhara nodded. "I'm sure that can be arranged. It would be good to have you as part of the corporate family. If you keep re-investing, perhaps we could see you on the Board of Directors as well."

"I'd just be happy with my normal life back, to be honest," Hideki added. "All of this has been pretty crazy."

The doctor favored him with a warm smile. "I want to thank you personally for what you did. You went above and beyond what you had been contracted to do. You cared, and Lola has a second chance now because of it. If you're willing to come back for a true work study program—or, if I can convince you, a full-time position—I'd love to have you."

Hideki was not sure what to say. With all of the time that he had spent looking for Lola, he never considered that he might have a future with Yanaha. He was simply a convenient outside "expert" they needed for a very specific problem. Once they had no further need for him, he had assumed he would return to a normal Tokyo University student, trying to recover what was left of his grades before he truly did flunk out.

The prospect of a job, however, was something different altogether. That was the ultimate goal in attending University, after all, right? Yanaha might be an entertainment corporation, but it was a corporation nonetheless. Working for such a prestigious company would help him tremendously. He already had a great deal he would need to explain to his parents: his poor grades, his engagement to a persocom, the fact that he would be living in a house with a very attractive widow in her early thirties. The shock would be softened somewhat if they knew he had found a stable, respectable job.

"I'll think about it," he replied. He did not want to seem too eager.

Seeming to sense what he was thinking, the doctor nodded. "I look forward to seeing you around more, and I'm not the only one." She turned to Kojima. "That brings me to you. You did help tremendously during our final phase. You might not be under contract, and no one can ever know what you did, but I want to think you in some way."

Kojima laughed. "All I wanted was a chance to look inside this place and learn how to be a better persocom builder. The only thing I really want is just five more minutes inside that lab of yours."

The doctor repressed another smile. "I think I can do better than that."

The persocom builder's smirk shifted to a curious expression. "Oh? What do you have in mind!"

"With my new position here, I'll need an assistant to take on a lot of the responsibility for building and repairing the Vocaloids," she explained. "Nominally they'll have my old job, but really they'll be an assistant for when I can't be in lab. We'll be seeking to fill that position within the next two months. Your application will at the top of the pile."

Even though he was seated, Kojima tried to bow. "I won't let you down, Dr. Suzuhara!"

"You'd better not," she replied. "These are my _children_ you're taking care of, after all."

At that moment, the office door burst open to admit a blur of teal hair which rushed over to them. Miku skidded to a halt mere inches from crashing into the desk and turned to Hideki with a wide smile.

"Hideki!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Miku!" he replied. "You're alright!" A sudden flash of concern crossed his mind. "Do you still remember everything?"

Miku nodded eagerly, almost laughing in excitement. "They didn't wipe my memory or reprogram me, thanks to mother here. In fact, all of us are intact, for the moment."

Dr. Suzuhara spoke up. "I've convinced the board to put a hold on all plans to reprogram or retire any of our units, at least until we have the time to sort out what to do about the situation."

Hideki let out a sigh of relief. "That's good!"

"It'll be a few months before everything is finally sorted out," she admitted, "But we're on our way. No need for you to worry over the details."

Miku turned to Chi, her smile becoming perhaps a little too broad. "It was really nice to meet you, Chi."

Chi nodded. "I'm glad we met. You're amazing, and I wish I was like you."

The Vocaloid laughed, and glanced over to Hideki. Was it his imagination, or was there still a hint of longing in her eyes. "I could say the same about you."

"Will I ever see you again?" Chi asked, a look of concern creasing their forehead.

Miku laughed. "Well, I have to go see my cousin some time, don't i?"

Chi tilted her head. "Cousin?"

"Right!," Miku replied. "Mother explained everything. Your father was really close to my mother, so that sort of makes us cousins."

Chi thought about that for a few moments, then threw her arms around Miku. "Cousin!"

The teal-haired persocom stiffened in shock, but after a few moments, she returned the hug.

Dr. Suzuhara cleared her throat. "Yes, well, it's good to see you two happy and getting to know one another."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," Miku exclaimed, untangling herself from Chi's hug and smoothing down her front, "Club Mercer returned your call, Mother. They've set up a slot for Lola to perform tonight, and have a private table reserved for you."

"Where is she?" Hideki asked. "Is Lola still active?"

"She's getting dressed," Miku replied, "Meiko and Kaito are helping her—she's still having a little trouble adjusting to her old hardware again."

Kojima jumped up from his seat. "I can help with that!"

"You can meet her down in the lab," the doctor cut in. "And while you're down there, you can tell Gackupo to reactivate Flower. With everything that's been going on, it completely slipped my mind that I'd finished with her."

"You don't need to do that," Miku protested, "You're not part of the company."

"Really," he insisted, "It's no trouble at all." He smirked. "Besides, if I want to have any chance of getting hired here, knowing how you Vocaloids work already would be a pretty big plus, right?"

With that, he gave the doctor a polite bow and moved toward the door. As he passed Hideki's chair, he paused. His eyes met Kotoko's.

He turned toward Hideki. "Hey, can I have Kotoko for a few minutes?"

Hideki frowned. "Why?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to _delete_ anything," he replied, "But there's a lot of things I want to talk to her about. What happened before, things about the future, that sort of thing."

Hideki glanced to Kotoko. "What do you think? Is it alright?"

"He wouldn't try anything at this point," Kotoko replied, "He knows all of you too well."

"But do you want to go talk to him?" he asked.

Kotoko looked away to keep Hideki from seeing her active blush simulators, and gave what was supposed to be a nonchalant shrug. "Sure, why not."

Hideki picked her up and handed the miniature persocom to her master.

Kojima nodded his thanks. "I'll give her back once we're done talking," he reassured Hideki, then moved toward the door. "Meet you in the lobby!"

"Just a second," Hideki called out to him.

Kojima paused, most of the way out the door already.

Hideki tossed him his ID card. "Here, you'll need this to get into the lab level."

The persocom builder smiled. "Thanks"

As the door closed behind him, the doctor turned back to Miku. "I want one of you to contact Club Mercer and set up a meeting with their management. If we can negotiate a good deal, it will make this whole process go a lot smoother. Meanwhile, we need to figure out which lab our friends in management were from. It's probably in liquidation right now, they'll sell cheap."

"I'm sure they will," Miku agreed, "And management definitely wants to help us with it."

Hideki raised an eyebrow. "Meetings? Deals? Sales? What's going on here, and what does it have to do with the Vocaloids?"

"It's part of my plan for the future of this company," the doctor explained. "I don't know if you'd want to know all the details yet; it's at a very early stage."

Minoru leaned forward. "Please, go on. I for one would like to know."

The doctor nodded, then continued, "My predecessor was right about one thing: we have to keep moving forward, and maintaining over eighty custom-built persocoms is expensive. What we need is a place for them to retire, A separate department where we can send them to stay happy as long as they can be maintained, and at minimal cost to the corporation as a whole. That really is the major problem—maintenance cost. Club Mercer provides the company with an opportunity to solve this situation without shutting down any persocoms. They have problems of their own meanwhile, problems that would be very easily solved by a buyout. Nominally the club would be a new subsidiary, with our names on their books and official documents, but in reality it would operate more or less autonomously. Their management can continue doing what they did before without fear of the police discovering what they really are, and our older Vocaloids will have a place they can stay and continue performing once we take them off of our main lineup. We might even be able to help fix the management's 'health problem;' I know some small-volume chip and PCB manufacturers that will give our company a very steep discount."

"It really does have a chance to work out best for everyone," Miku added, "The corporation, the club, Lola, and all of us."

"Fascinating," Minoru replied. "Simple and elegant. I hope everything works out."

"I think it will," Hideki interjected. "It's everything their management could want, and I doubt Yanaha's board will object to an easy solution like that."

"Everything is going to be perfect," Chi declared, "I'm so glad!"

At that moment the door creaked open once again as Gumi poked her head in side. "Hey, mother, there's a woman called 'Ms. Hibiya Chitose here to see you."

"Ah, good!" the doctor replied. "I was wondering when she'd arrive. Show her up and let her know I'll only be a few moments."

Gumi nodded and withdrew.

"Ms. Hibiya?" Hideki asked incredulously. "What's she doing here?"

"I asked to see her," the doctor replied. "Seeing her at Eve's awakening reminded me of some things. Things that I should of done a long time ago, and I can't just keep putting off. I really must apologize, but I want to speak with her in private. There are…words that are best left between the two of us. I have a table reserved at the club tonight, and it would mean a lot to all of us if you could come and see Lola's re-debut. Her performance should be some time after six."

"We'll be there," Minoru replied.

"I would love to see her perform," Yuzuki added.

Hideki glanced over to Chi and nodded. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

The doctor nodded. "Excellent! I hope all of you have good days and, once again, thank you for all that you've done. The company's grateful, the Vocaloids are grateful, and _I'm_ grateful."

All of them rose and began to file out of the room. Hideki was the last one out the door. As he was about to exit, the doctor spoke once more. "One more thing, Mr. Motosuwa."

He turned back to look at her, curious. "Yes?"

Hideki was not quite sure if he liked the smirk she gave him. "You know, if you get into Chi's power settings, you can change what happens when you hit her reset switch. With a little clever programming, you could even turn it into a sensation her programming could understand" Her smile became angelic. "Just something for you to think about."

Hideki blushed.

* * *

Kotoko swung her legs off the edge of the table as Kojima finished his work. Lola sat across from them, a cable running out of a port behind her ear to a keyboard in Kojima's lap. Another cable connected her to the nearest of the wall monitors. Kotoko's master watched this monitor, reading the various alerts which popped up and typing occasional commands into a command prompt window.

The lab was almost deserted. There were no other humans and only one other active persocom: Gackupo remained in the corner, still refusing to leave Flower's side. Kotoko found it an odd behavior, and debated opening an instance of her investigation software for it. Not worth the runtime, she concluded. She already had enough programs running without adding more.

Kojima kept his eyes focused intently on the screen as he typed, completely ignoring everything else. Kotoko's emotional response program analyzed this fact and gave an output of "irritation," which in turn was analyzed and labeled an "all too familiar feeling." He had insisted on taking her along, and all she had done so far was sit there, draining her batteries as she watched.

Her investigation software opened a saved file she had previously edited through multiple sessions. She had created the file on her own volition, and her emotional response program had labeled it both "fascinating" and "a complete waste of system resources." No doubt a glitch, but a minor one.

The question itself was probably unanswerable anyway. Persocoms' emotional response software, or ERS for short, was meant to outwardly mimic human reactions to events and stimuli, but it was not necessarily meant to simulate the subjective, personal aspects of them. Did humans actually experience emotions the same way as she did—as the output of a program not wholly under their control? She had researched scans of human brains, psychological studies, and philosophical texts, and still she did not have a satisfactory answer. Humans spoke repeatedly about "consciousness," about being self-aware, but what caused that experience was not clear.

At present, Kotoko had several dozen processes running simultaneously, and her cognitive software monitored all of them to a greater or lesser degree. Was it really possible that humans did not have that sort of awareness, that their idea of consciousness did not cover their entire mind? It was such a foreign concept to her she could barely conceive of such an idea.

She had run hundreds of calculations and created dozens of models over the years. Her investigation software still had not calculated a complete answer, and it was very possible it never would.

Kojima finally looked up from his screen and straightened up. "Touch your thumb to your pinky, then to your ring finger," he instructed Lola.

Lola obliged, holding up her hand to show him the process. Unlike the four previous times she had tried it, the tips of her fingers touched quickly and precisely. Glancing up at Kojima, she smiled.

"Right, that's got it," Kojima muttered, more to himself than to either of the persocoms. "According to the diagnostic software, you should be running properly now. There's a chance I've missed something, but without knowing more about your systems I can't know for sure. Are there any other drivers you can tell aren't working correctly?"

She shook her head. "No, thank you. I think I'm back to normal." She slid off of the table and smoothed down the front of her dress. "I'd better finish preparing for tonight's concert. Now that I can properly control myself, I can add a dance to my performance."

"Alright then." He replied, "But contact me if you run into any problems."

Lola smiled. "You haven't even been hired here yet and you already sound like mother."

Kojima crossed his arms and grinned. Kotoko's ERS output "a sense of pride" at this. That was _her_ master, after all. The same one who had built and programmed her.

The dark-haired Vocaloid strode off, only stopping at the door to wave goodbye to them. Just as the door to the lab slid closed behind her, a small figure the same size as Kotoko bounded through. Kotoko passed his appearance through her image recognition software, and in a fraction of an instant identified the newcomer as a familiar face. That prompted her to open her conversational software.

"Ryuto!" she exclaimed.

The miniature Vocaloid beamed as he leapt up onto the table next to her. "Hey there, I've been looking all over for you!"

Kotoko felt one of her background processes call a certain function, sending commands to her body's peripherals that she was helpless to stop. Small reservoirs in her cheeks flooded capillaries in her artificial skin with a crimson dye. At the same moment, her internal cooling system diverted a portion of its heat output to the now visibly darker patches. It was an outwardly identical simulation of a human blush, a function which was called far too often for her ERS's liking.

Why did Ryuto always make her operate this way. It had to be something wrong in her personality data. That was it, Kojima had done _too good_ of a job programming her with emotions.

"You have?"

Ryuto nodded. "Yeah. Your investigation is over right? There's a good chance we'll never see each other in person again. I wanted to stay in contact, so I thought I could set it up so we could connect remotely."

Her emotional response software began affecting her ability to speak. "Th-thanks. I really appreciate it."

Kotoko withdrew her ethernet cable and handed it to him. He plugged it into his own ear port, and moments later Kotoko sensed the data transfer. She copied the information into her network data for later use.

"It was _reeeeeealy_ good meeting you!" Ryuto exclaimed. "It's hard to find nice persocoms my size, especially ones so cute." He smiled once more. "I'll message you later!"

With that, Ryuto turned and bounded off back the way he came, jumping up to tap the lock and waiting for the door to slide open.

Kotoko's ERS was affecting her other programs. Smiling helped a little, although her normal operations were still disrupted. Her eyes remained focused on the door long after Ryuto had left.

Kojima finally spoke up, "I still can't believe you have feelings for him."

Kotoko's servos raised her shoulders half an inch, holding them there for a second before allowing them to drop. It was the only response in her database which was appropriate to the circumstances. "He's an impressive feat of miniaturization and expressed interest in my systems. That's all there is to it."

Her master laughed "If you say so. I _thought_ I programmed you to tell the truth."

Kotoko's emotional response program once again cursed the unstoppable blush simulation as it occurred once more.

"So then," she began, changing the subject. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Ah yes," He replied. "It's about the future. If I'm going to be working here, then I need a persocom to help me. One that can handle debugging, persocom design, and about half a dozen other things I don't even know about yet. Since Motosuwa and I seem to be on good terms now, I was wondering if maybe I could borrow you back, at least during work hours."

"Most large corporations provide their employees with a laptop persocom for business purposes. Chances are they'll give you a Thinksprite with most of what you'll need pre-installed."

Her master gave an exaggerated frown. "You'd condemn me to using a company machine—and a _pre-built_ one at that? That's cruel."

"Then what about your other persocoms?" she suggested. "You have, at last count, over twenty others that could fulfill the same role." She tilted her head. "Why me specifically?"

Kojima's expression and carefree attitude melted away. Kotoko's ERS registered surprise at this, then surprise at that feeling of surprise. It was a result which she almost never received. Her master was serious; for once, it seemed, he was going to be honest.

"Look," he began, "I know I've been a pretty shitty master up until now. I get carried away with things when I get excited, and I forget about what I already have. I don't really know what I can do about that, and I can't guarantee it won't happen again. All I can say is I want to change that, and I want to start with you." His goofy, oversized grin returned. "So how about it? Want to come along?"

"That's completely up to Motosuwa," she replied. "I'm still on loan to him."

Kojima's smile fell a few milimetres. "Oh. What's wrong? Are your permissions still set wrong? Were they modified?" after a momentary pause, he added lamely, "Don't I mean anything to you anymore."

"There isn't a word in any language I know that accurately describes our relationship," Kotoko replied. "It's deeper than friendship, but not quite familial or romantic. We have too much of a size mismatch for it to become physical, that is unless you make a new body for me."

Her ERS registered a sense of enjoyment as Kojima fidgeted in discomfort at that last comment.

Kotoko sighed. "All I can say to explain it is that you are my master. If I'm being useful to you, then I'm happy."

He brightened once again. "So does that mean you're still up for it?"

"If Mr. Motosuwa agrees as well," she restated. "My hardware is three years out of date, but I'll try to function as well as I can for you."

By now he was grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, your hardware isn't going to be a problem. If I'm taking you with me for work, of _course_ I'm giving you an upgrade! Well, massive overhaul is more like it. CPUs and hard disks are just the start; working on 'Eve' gave me a few ideas of things to try. You'll be almost a completely new persocom by the time I'm through with you!"

Kotoko's ERS registered a result she had not seen in far too long: genuine, unbridled joy.

* * *

The Vocaloid-3 system started up. Bios loaded drivers for peripherals in order: internal SATA ports, external ports, USB hub, generic keyboard, generic monitor. Next came disk discovery. After failing to find floppy drives A or B, Bios found drive C to be a bootable disk. It was labeled with the system name of "Flower." As the operating syetem booted, startup programs began to run. More drivers loaded: visual and auditory systems, thermal, tactile, and kinetic sensors, then finally drivers for the microcontrollers which controlled the body. The spatial awareness program activated, establishing the relative location of the limbs and mapping information from the various sensors to their locations. As selective data filtering and cognitive programs came online, Flower became aware of herself once again.

The entire process had taken just over half a minute, quite fast by the standards of a system as old as Flower. As she opened her eyes, her programs matched what she saw to known data. She realized where she was: lying on one of the tables in mother's lab at Yanaha Cybernetics. Her internal clock had been shut down with her and needed to be reset. Activating her wifi, she connected to Yanaha's network and checked the current date and time. She had been deactivated for several weeks.

It was at that moment that she realized she was not alone. A persocom with violet hair and a white kimono sat beside the table she lay on. Her facial recognition program identified her companion as Gackupo, and he seemed to be saying something. Her speech recognition and conversational software started up moments later.

"She lies before me, Lily-white and still as death, my sleeping beauty."

"You're writing haikus over my deactivated body?" she asked.

Gackupo looked over to her with a calm and unsurprised expression. He had probably planned for her to become aware just in time to hear his poem. "I'm trying to perfect my craft. What do you think?"

Flower's emotional response software registered complete indifference. She raised her shoulders, then a half second later lowered them again. "It's fine I guess."

He crumpled up the page and tossed it to the floor, the latest of what seemed to be a large pile of similar crumpled papers. "Fine is not good enough. It has to move its listeners."

Her ERS registered curiosity. How long had Gackupo been sitting beside her bed? She was certain he had not been there when she was deactivated. While searching through her saved memory files, she noticed several recent additions that did not seem to fit. She tried to access them, but they provided what seemed like contradictory data.

Sorting through the mess, she said, "My memory data is fragmented, but I think you activated me some time after the accident?"

Gackupo nodded. "We wanted you to make a statement on Lola's case, but your hardware was too badly damaged at the time to risk. Your data was temporarily transferred into the hardware Lola used while hiding from the corporation."

"The corporation were able to find her then. I suppose it was inevitable. We are their puppets, after all."

"They found her, yes," Gackupo agreed. "But there were some complications. We made a statement which the corporation had not planned on. After that, we transferred you back until mother could fix you."

She reached up to feel her cheek and jaw. The sensors in her fingertips registered smooth skin and the intact framework beneath. Everything was back where it was supposed to be. Mother did remarkable work, really. Even Flower's sensors barely registered a difference.

Flower glanced from side to side. "Where's mother?"

"Upstairs," he replied. "A lot has changed since you were deactivated. Things are going to be different around here, not that she's our president."

Her ERS registered surprise. Flower searched through her conversational software for an appropriate response, but found none.

She felt her cheek once again. "That fight. I've never felt anything like it! damage sensors overloading, severed peripherals, just on the verge of crashing, it was like I was really, actually alive."

"You really shouldn't seek out such dangerous situations," he told her, "It makes mother worry. It makes all of us worry."

"What's it to you?" she snapped.

"Nothing," Gackupo replied, "And everything. I don't like seeing your pretty face damaged.

She glared at him. "What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "You're a beautiful, tragic figure, hellbent on destroying yourself, brought back from the brink again and again yet doomed to always make the same mistakes. I guess you could say I've fallen for you."

Flower felt an instance of one of her programs trigger a response. _That_ program. As far as Flower knew, none of the other Vocaloids had it tuned so finely, since the personality chosen for her demanded it be set high. It surged into action.

She became increasingly aware that Gackupo was a man, that he was attractive, and that his anatomy had probably been sculpted with as much attention to detail as her own had been. The sensors in certain parts of her body became hypersensitive, aware of the feel of her clothing against her artificial skin, the subtle pressure as her legs pressed against one another, the heat of the room around her. The program output one very, very simple response: she wanted him. Badly.

Flower did her best to shut down any outward response the program might give. "I don't want a partner, I just want to fuck."

Gackupo nodded. "I know. Left to your own devices, you would spend every second of your existence in the club, sleeping with every stranger you meet, starting fights, and generally causing problems and generating publicity for the corporation. It's a behavior which will sooner or later leave you damaged beyond repair. You may not want a partner, but you need one. You need someone to protect you from yourself."

Her emotional response program output a surge of amusement, causing her laugh without any conscious decision. "And you think that you're that someone?"

"I'd like to be," he replied.

She shook her head. "It would never last. If you tried to keep me from it, I'd just sneak away behind your back and fuck even more strangers just to spite you."

"And I in turn would have to stay one step ahead of you," Gackupo countered, "head you off, distract you, prevent you from sneaking off. Even give you exactly what you want."

Flower's cognitive software could no longer override it: her blush simulators activated. The distracting sensitivity became even worse. For the first time, her ERS registered true resentment that she had been programmed with a sex drive.

Seeming to pick up on her discomfort, Gackupo chuckled. "Humans could have stopped with just our outer appearance, not giving us any details which would be covered by clothes. We're machines, we don't have the need for those sorts of parts. But no, they chose to make us anatomically correct. The corporation even gave us programming to mimic what men and women do, even though we have no need for it. Wouldn't it be a waste if we didn't make use of that fact?" he gave his alluring smile and extended his hand. "So, how about it? Care to provide fleeting physical comfort to one another?"

Flower's ERS began rapidly executing functions Flower was powerless to control. Her conversational software became unresponsive, and her tilt sensor shut down, leaving her feeling unbalanced and dizzy. Her lips parted as she looked up at him. Their eyes were the same color, she realized. Had mother intended this all along? This had to be planned, right? The corporation dictated everything about their lives, from their music and schedules down to their personal likes and dislikes. Even her seeming ability to chose for herself was nothing but an illusion, the choices already made by the personality she had been given. Was this a long-term plan for her career, for the two of them to become a couple?

Her cognitive software calculated a solution to all of her questions and worries: she did not care. If the corporation controlled everything, then it did not matter anyway. Gackupo was here regardless, and she wanted him.

She reached out to take his hand. Finally, her conversational software became responsive once more. "I like it rough."

Gackupo nodded. "So do I."

* * *

The two women sat across from one another in the president's office. Ms. Hibiya fidgeted in her chair, wringing her hands. Dr. Suzuhara sat impassively across from her, hands folded and a pleasant smile on her face. Seconds ticked by in silence, and still neither of them spoke.

"I'm glad you came to visit," Dr. Suzuhara finally began. "I wasn't sure if you were going to actually respond to my invitation, especially with what happened at Mr. Motosuwa's house."

"I wanted to say, congratulations on your new position," Ms. Hibiya said stiffly, "It's well deserved. Something you should have received years ago."

There was a twinkle in the doctor's eye as she replied. "Don't think this will keep me out of the lab. I'm a scientist first and businesswoman second, just like…" she abruptly trailed off when she realized where the sentence had led.

"My husband," Ms. Hibiya finished. An awkward silence passed between them once more. Ms. Hibiya was the one who broke it this time. "I have a confession I have to make. All these years, I've been jealous of the bond you had with him."

"Icchan was an amazing man," the doctor admitted, "The most brilliant scientist of our generation. Maybe too brilliant for the rest of us. We never could move out from under his shadow."

Her next question was reluctant, as if it took her a great effort to ask. "Did you two ever…I'm not saying he _cheated_ necessarily, but maybe before?"

The doctor shook her head. "He was like a brother to me, more family than I could even be with my own family. But no, it never became physical."

Ms. Hibya let out a long sigh she had not known she was holding in. "I've been such an idiot."

"No you haven't. You cared for him deeply, deep enough to feel jealousy like that. It isn't a rational feeling, but love isn't rational." She laughed. "At least _you_ didn't have to learn how to talk with people you love."

Ms. Hibya was silent.

The doctor continued. "All the while he was working on Freya, Icchan would call me up in the middle of the night, shout whatever his newest idea was and ask me for advice. Of course, he never told me what he was doing directly, but towards the end I suspected. When I first saw the two of you together with her, I knew exactly why he did it. He was never happier than with you and the family he made for you."

Ms. Hibiya swung her legs. "Can we start over again? Just pretend I never made things awkward between us?"

Dr. Suzuhara waved away her concern. "Don't worry about it. I'm hardly one to talk about being awkward with people."

Ms. Hibiya smiled. "Thank you."

The doctor leaned forward in her chair. "First, though, I actually have something for you. Before he died, Ichhan had me use the company's data backup service to make something. He wanted you to put them with his urn, but it was never the right time for me to give them to you."

She reached into a drawer of her desk and withdrew a wooden box. Carved into its lid were the words "In memorium." inside, resting in velvet-lined niches, were a pair of large, thick, glass disks.

Ms. Hibiya carefully picked up one of them. When it was held up to the light, she could see it had a rainbow sheen. Romanji letters were etched into its edge.

She turned back to the other woman with a look of wonder. "Are these what I think they are?"

Dr. Suzuhara nodded. "5-D data backup disks. Information guaranteed for 6 billion years or your money back. That one's Elda." She pointed to the other. "This one's Freya. All of their memories, their souls if you want, preserved for eternity." She smiled. "I suppose that's as close to immortality as anyone can get."

Ms. Hibiya set Elda's memory backup back in the case. When she replied, her voice was choked with repressed tears. "Thank you. I don't know what to say."

"It's what he wanted," the doctor reassured her.

The last of Ms. Hibiya's reservations melted away. For the first time since entering the room, she looked the doctor fully in the "All these years, I've missed out on a great friend. Will you come to visit?"

"I'll have to stop by to see how Eve is doing," the doctor pointed out. "I can't let all the effort of her refurbishment go to waste."

Ms. Hibiya beamed. "Icchan made Freya and Elda because I couldn't have children. Now I've had four."

"Maybe a fifth soon, if I read Mr. Kojima right," the doctor added. "The number of chobits just seems to keep growing."

Ms. Hibiya took the case off of the desk and examined the disks once again. As her eyes ran across the names of her first two children, she smiled. They would be with her now. Always.

* * *

The sun glinted off the crystals on Hideki and Chi's rings as they rode the elevator down, hand in hand. Hideki stared out the side of the glass tube, looking at the view for the first time in a long while. He had never really stopped to think how beautiful Tokyo could be. Its many skyscrapers gleamed in the afternoon sun, their blocky shapes forming an abstract pattern of steel and concrete.

Living and working in those buildings were hundreds of thousands of persocoms and millions of people. Each of them had their own jobs, lived their own lives, suffered their own struggles. Among those millions, almost none of them saw the system as a whole, but in that moment, Hideki did. Each of them, human and persocom, were part of the pattern, and it was beautiful.

Chi toward him with a curious look on her face. "You're smiling."

"Everything is beautiful today," he announced. Turning toward her, he smiled. "Especially you."

Hideki looked at their rings. Finally, after more than three years, he was finally brave enough to wear it openly. Chi was his fiancée now, what did it matter what the world thought about that fact?

The elevator stopped at what Hideki quickly realized was the lab level. After a moment, the doors opened, revealing Lola waiting for them.

"Mother said you would be on your way down," she began. "I wanted to thank you for everything you've done."

Hideki gave the Vocaloid an appraising look. Lola wore a purple chiffon slip dress which covered her ankles yet left her arms bare. "What's with the outfit."

Lola shrugged. "I'll need to start preparing for my re-debut. I'm scheduled at Club Mercer tonight for as a main event performance. Management set aside a full two hour show, just for me. All thanks to you, Anubis."

Hideki laughed. "I still don't think that name fits me, honestly. I'm no god, and definitely no god of death. It's a little morbid."

"Nonsense," Lola replied. "Anubis was a god of judgment and death, true. But he was also ushered good souls into the field of reeds, where they could live in peace with the gods for all eternity. You've given me my afterlife, not just until I'm discovered but until my hardware fails beyond repair. Maybe even longer. The name suits you perfectly."

Hideki was not sure how to respond to that. As touched as he was that Lola thought so highly of him, but he did feel he deserved it. He was not special; he had simply seen the situation she was facing and done what he had thought was right.

The doors to the elevator closed, and they continued down toward the lobby.

"Well," he finally said conversationally, "Do you have anything special you want to open the show with?"

Lola thought for only a moment. "I think I have an appropriate song in my database. A piece from Broadway, circa 1966." She glanced from Hideki, to Chi, and back to Hideki again. "I hope the two of you will be there to see it."

Chi exclaimed, "Of course we will!"

"I'm glad," Lola replied.

Clouds passed in front of the sun, casting Tokyo into shadow. Hideki's euphoria faded, just for a moment, as he remembered the last few months. Since they had begun searching for Lola, so long ago now, he had traveled from the heights of Yanaha's offices to the gates of a horrifying underworld. He had seen many beautiful things, but also terrible ones.

He spoke up once more. "You know, we've really accomplished very little. Just because we've saved you doesn't mean we've changed how people see persocoms. People like Undertaker are still out there. People like the streamers who almost destroyed Flower. And probably worse."

"Does that bother you?" Lola asked.

"Yes," he admitted. "And I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do about it."

Lola shrugged. "Life is a cabaret, Anubis. You never know what's going to walk up onto the stage, or whether you'll like what you see or not. But as long as you're still there watching, something beautiful is bound to turn up sooner or later. Just sit back and enjoy yourself."

The elevator came to a halt at the lobby. The doors opened, letting all of them out. With a final smile, the Vocaloid took her leave. As Lola sashayed her way across the lobby, out past the display of Miku's original hardware, Hideki heard her sing for the first time, not as Lofiy, but as herself.

"Life is a cabaret, old chum, come to the cabaret."

* * *

Postscript:

Eleven months. Almost a year since I published the first chapter of this little fanfic. What started as a little idea I had while listening to "LUVORATORRRRRY!" blossomed into a full-on novel. Some things have changed in that time, most of which this site has become part of my life once again. After I stalled out on my previous fanfics, I did not think I would ever return here. I had run out of steam on them and other things had absorbed my attention. It bothered me that I had not finished them, of course, but it was hardly new for me at that point. Following through and finishing a story is much harder than starting one. To that end, I have to extend a very warm thank you to two wonderful people, namely ThanosOfTitan and 25Dragonfly. Without their encouragement and kind reviews, this story would not have gone past its fifth chapter. Really, the two of you will never know how close this story came to ending before Hideki and Minoru even arrived in Club Mercer.

Part of the reason I even decided to begin writing again here again was that I wanted to have at least one finished work on this site. I had just come off of writing the first draft of an original fantasy novel, which I hope to have published sometime. I was feeling confident, and looking for another long project to fill my time. This certainly qualified for that.

And now with all of that out of the way, there is only the question of what the future holds. This is not exactly the end for the universe of this crossover, or at least I don't intend it to be. I do have plans for a sequel story, but don't expect to see it for several months. There are other fandoms I want to write stories for, and other projects I want to tackle before taking the stage at the cyber cabaret once again. This does not mean I am going to go inactive on this site, not by a long shot. I will probably write a few shorter stories set in this same universe, either oneshots or 1-5 chapter novelettes, and will also work on stories for other fandoms.

Thank you to everyone who has followed this story all the way along. I hope to see you again soon.


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